Gundam Pilot Children
by jinakel wohess
Summary: Not an original title, I know. A continuation of the Jinx Arc. The pilots' children enter the Preventor Academy and are soon faced with danger.
1. Mother's Death

Thanks to everyone who liked the "Jinx" story and "A Return to the Military."  Some of you requested more of the story arc, so here it is.  This centers more on the kids of the Gundam Pilots than the Pilots themselves, but they do play a large role and, as requested, aren't too old to kick some ass when the occasion calls for it.  

By the way, I don't own Gundam Wing or any of its characters.

Teaser

Mother's Death

Something in the hallway woke him up.  He hadn't been able to sleep well since his mother became sick six months ago, and now even the slightest sound could rouse him from slumber.  His mother.  The funeral had been yesterday.  But it still didn't seem real.  It still didn't seem like his mother was gone.  

Whatever it was in the hallway made a sound again.  He got up from his bed and crept to his door, peeking into the hall.  His father was there, walking softly and trying not to make noise as he went from his room to the doorway of the guestroom.  He watched as his father eased open the guestroom door, whispering to the person residing inside.

She'd arrived the day before the funeral.  His father had introduced her as an aunt and an old friend, someone who had known both his father and his mother years ago.  They'd lived together in the same building until he was two years old, his father said when he introduced the woman.  

And now his father was sneaking into her room, the night after his mother's funeral.  His eyes narrowed as he saw his father's figure disappear into the darkness of her bedroom.  He quietly crept out of his room and sneaked down the hall.  He waited outside of her room, listening to what was going on inside.  

"Can I talk to you?"  He heard his father say softly.  

"About what?"  Despite the fact that it was barely 3:00 in the morning, the woman answered immediately, as if she had never been asleep.

"Wufei talked to me yesterday, before the funeral.  He told me…"

"What did he say?"

"He told me that there was still room for me at the Preventor Academy.  That he and Sally live there still and I have a room if I want to stay.  And I have a job if I want to take it."

"You would be closer to all of us if you came to the Academy on Earth."

"I'm strongly considering it, to be closer to your family and Wufei's family.  But I don't know how my boys will handle the move, especially after their mother's death so recently.  It just might be too many life changes all at one time."

"Your boys will support you.  And if you come to the Academy, we can help take care of you and your family."

He left the doorway and crept back to his room, refusing to hear any more of it.  His father was a Gundam Pilot once upon a time, something his father and mother both kept secret from him and his brother.  They ran away to L3, hoping to outrun his father's past, but he was too young to remember or reject it.  

"Hayden?"  His brother's sleepy voice called to him.

"What, Luke?" 

"Who's Dad talking to?"  His brother was amazing sometimes, able to hear their father's voice down the hall and in another room.  "Is it Mom?"  Then again, his brother was half-asleep and therefore delusional at the moment.

"Mom's dead, Luke.  He's talking to that friend of his from the Preventors."  Hayden threw back the covers of his bed and sat down heavily.  Luke continued to talk from the bunk above him.

"The woman from the war?"

"Yea, Luke.  Go to sleep."

"What are they talking about?"

"We're moving."

"Where?" 

"Going to Earth, most likely.  So Dad can work at the Preventor Academy."

"Oh yea, Dad was in the war, too."

"That's right.  Go to bed Luke."

"Goodnight, Hayden."

____

Thanks specifically to Mistress Maxwell, Terry Yuy, Dark-sephiroth, Shaman Flamingo, Ryoko-onee, Midnight, and everyone else who liked the Jinx Arc.


	2. Arrival

Thanks Ryoko-onee!  You never fail to read and respond – it makes me all warm and fuzzy inside.  Thanks for liking my stuff.

Chapter One

Arrival 

He watched as his father held her hand.  And he said nothing during the shuttle ride to Earth.  They were supposed to be meeting her family when they landed.  Walking through the port, his father held her hand, ignoring the glares from his sons, ignoring the fact that their mother had died, and ignoring the fact that this woman had another family.  He could feel his anger boiling beneath his skin.  

"Heero!" his father shouted, running to embrace a tall, dark-haired and blue-eyed man who was standing near a videophone station.  The stern-looking man suddenly brightened and held his father close, burying his father's head in his shoulder and petting his father's hair.  

It amazed him.  During his mother's funeral, the strong man named Trowa was the first to shed tears and hug his father.  His father's other friend, the smaller blond-haired man named Quatre had also softened immediately and held his father close to him.  Wufei, the angry Chinese man even cried and embraced his father.  All these strong and dangerous men that his father had known in the war, and all of them had become unwavering pillars of emotional support during his father's time of need.  It destroyed the image of the unfeeling and stoic soldier that the history books painted of the Gundam Pilots who fought in the Eve wars.  He was glad to have that image destroyed.  

Hayden was introduced to Heero, and his brother was too.  He and his brother walked silently behind their father and the married couple named Heero and Jin.  He listened abstractly as they talked.

"It's good to have you here, Duo," Heero said to his father.  "And I'm glad you'll be living at the Academy with us for a while.  You're welcome to your old instructor job, I'm sure you're aware of that."

"Where's your daughter?" his father asked.

Heero paused uncomfortably for a moment before he answered.  "I'm sorry I wasn't able to make it to Hilde's funeral, Duo.  I wish I could have been there for you…"

"Everyone was there, Heero, you didn't have to trouble…"

"…No, Duo, I would have been there.  It's just that, well, Kaori hasn't been feeling well lately.  We decided that I should stay with her."

"What's been wrong with Kaori?"

This time Jin answered.  "She's an empath, Duo.  With more mental power than Heero, Quatre, or I have ever experienced.  Sometimes, she has trouble controlling it.  After feeling Heero's and my sorrow for Hilde, she became so sick."

"We didn't think she could handle going to a funeral," Heero said.  "She isn't even at home right now.  She's afraid to feel all three of you at the same time."

"We hope she will gain control again soon," Jin added.

His father was silent for a while, listening to his friends talking about their daughter.  Hayden was silent, too.  He had never met an empath.  His brother gave him a glance that said he was thinking the same thing.  

They continued talking to his father about little things.  From the shuttle port they went to a waiting car.  Heero drove.  It was the first time Hayden had been to Earth.  His father tried to tell him about what the Earth looked like before they arrived.  That the moon was farther away and smaller in the night sky, that the air smelled fresher and cleaner than the artificial air of the colonies, that the sky was really a reflection of the immense oceans rather than synthesized colors on a screen.  Nothing prepared him for the beauty of it all.  Nothing prepared him for the real grass and air and water of the Earth.  

_Preventor Academy_ read the sign at the beginning of the drive.  He couldn't believe that his father once taught here.  That his father was thinking of teaching here.  That they were about to move into this building complex and live there.  This was more than his imagination could handle.  

A woman named Sally met them outside the building, smiling and crying at the same time.  She hugged Duo, hugged each of the boys and then apologized for not being able to make it to the funeral.  Hayden remembered having seen her daughter at the funeral, along with her daughter's father.  They were not married though, so he could not call Wufei her husband.  Sally led them to an elevator and took them to the sixth floor.  

Heero and Jin lived in the apartments behind door 603.  He, his father, and his brother were placed in the quarters next to theirs behind door 605.  It was bare and small.  Two bedrooms and a living area with a small kitchen attached.  It was very small compared to the house they'd lived in with his mother.  But his mother wasn't around now.  

They had dinner at Heero and Jin's apartment.  He didn't pay much attention to the conversation during dinner until they mentioned the Academy.

"Have you talked to your sons about joining the Academy?" Heero asked.

Duo swallowed the food he'd been chewing.  "I haven't," he said, glancing aside at his boys.  "Hilde had mentioned it to me once or twice, but we never talked to the boys about it.  Why do you ask?"

"Just that the cadets will start soon.  Within the end of the week, actually," Jin said.  "And Kaori will be in the entering class this fall."

"Will she really?" his father asked, a hint of excitement creeping into his voice.  

"Yes," Heero answered.  "We're very proud of her for joining.  You should talk to them about it," he said, nodding his head in the direction of Hayden and Luke.  

"Can the boys still join?"

"Of course," Jin said.  "The Academy accepts cadets ages 17 and up, so there's no problem with that rule.  And I'm sure that we can pull a few strings to get Duo Maxwell's sons admitted at the last minute.  I doubt either Noin or Lady Une would object."

They ate in silence for a moment.  Then his father asked, "Will Kaori be alright as a cadet?"

"She's a strong girl…"

And Hayden neglected to pay attention to the rest of the dinner conversation.  His mind was focused on the possibility of being a cadet for the Preventors.  He knew that both of his parents had worked in this institution for a while, but they had rarely talked about their past in the Preventor's ranks or in the military before that.  It seemed as if his parents had things that they wanted very much to forget.  

The woman Jin was smiling at his father, reaching over occasionally to set her hand on top of his in a gesture of support and warmth.  He glared each time she looked in his father's direction.  Finally, he could take no more.

"I'm leaving," he said quietly.  He left their apartment.

He considered going to his own room, the one he'd have to share with his little brother.  But they'd find him there.  He decided to leave the sixth floor and wander around the building complex that was now his home.  

The hallways were dark and abandoned, the Academy running off of minimal power intake to conserve energy during the summer break.  Cadets would arrive at the end of the week, and the halls would be fully lit and cooler then.  Right now, he was sweating as he stalked slowly through the sterile and empty passageways in the building.  Sighing discontentedly, he found himself outside of the building, heading toward the lake built on the south side of the complex.  

Insects, invisible to his eyes, made chirping sounds in the nearby woods.  Somewhere on the lake, a water creature rose to the surface and dove into the depths of the water again, making a light sploshing sound.  It was surreal to him, being here where his parents used to work together.  He had never known of his parents' involvement with the Preventors, or the Eve wars for that matter.  They'd kept him and his brother ignorant from the truth and had only reluctantly admitted the truth after he'd found out in history class that Duo Maxwell had been Gundam Pilot 02.  His mother had held him close and apologized for lying to him all those years.  His mother had been understanding.  His mother was now gone.  

Tears made his cheeks cold when the breeze blew in from the lake.  His thoughts rested on the memories of his mother.  The memories that his father was betraying by being so friendly to that Jin Yuy woman.  He was sure they weren't involved in an affair, and the logical part of his brain told him that he was simply overreacting due to the stressful events of the last week.  But his heart ached to see his father smile at Mrs. Yuy.  His heart ached to see his father smile at all, especially when he couldn't force himself to smile.  He couldn't make himself discard the sorrow that wrapped so tightly around him he felt as if he'd suffocate.  

"Let go of your anger."

His head snapped up, searching around him to find the owner of the voice.  He roughly smeared the tears from his face, refusing to let anyone see him cry.

"We all cry sometimes," the voice said again.  This time, he found the owner.  She was walking toward him from around the lake, her bare feet stepping lightly along the shore of the lake.  It was dark outside, with the moon already behind the mass of the Preventor building.  She was wearing a simple dress, the tips of which brushed the ground lightly as she walked.  He couldn't see her features, the details of her face.  But he saw the dark hair that cascaded in waves down her back, ending near her knees.  He saw her strangely colored red-violet eyes.  

"What do you want?" he barked at her, a little more sternly than he had planned.  Uneasily, he shifted his seating position on the hard rock and settled down on the soft sand.  

She sat down beside him, drawing her knees up and wrapping her arms around them.  Her hair curtained most of her face from view, but he saw her eyes peer unblinking out at the lake and the outline of her nose and lips.  "I want to help you," she said simply, not tearing her gaze from the gentle waves lapping at the sandy shore of the lake.  Her toes wiggled in the sand.  

"Help me with what?"  Curiosity laced his stern tone of voice from before.

"Your anger.  Your sadness."  She stopped speaking for a moment and closed her eyes in concentration.  "You miss your mother," she said quietly, barely audible over the chirping night insects.

"Yes."  He couldn't bring himself to say anymore than that.  Realization dawned.  "You're Kaori, aren't you?"

She nodded, her hair making light swishing sounds as it rubbed against her clothing.  "Don't be mad at my mother.  She has been friends with my father and yours since they were our age.  She was a friend of your mother, too."

They sat together in silence for a while, listening to the sounds of the night creatures and the occasional ripple of water.  

"I just miss her," he confessed.  "And at times like these, I feel like my father doesn't miss her so much.  He's more interested in playing with old friends."

"He's torn inside," she replied, closing her eyes again as she focused.  "Colonel Maxwell is torn between crying over the love of his life and laughing from seeing old friends and family.  Did you know the Gundam pilots lost most of their families before or during the Eve wars?  Your father was an orphan from the beginning.  My father doesn't remember if he ever had family, since he was trained to be a soldier from infancy.  My mother is the same way.  Uncle Trowa remembers his mother's death when he was very young, and Uncle Wufei's entire clan was killed.  Uncle Quatre's father died to protect peace."  Her eyes opened, and she continued her tale.  "Our fathers, the Gundam pilots, decided to adopt each other as family.  Since they were fifteen years old, they've regarded each other as brothers.  So you see why he forgets his sorrow when he's around the family he's missed for the last sixteen years?"

Hayden sighed.  He'd never thought of it that way.  Since his father never talked about his past, he never knew he was an orphan, or that the men he's met as "Uncles" over the past few days were really not his uncles.  They were the good friends and fellow soldiers his father met during the Eve wars.  And even his father's long absence from them did not diminish the friendship they'd developed all those years ago.  He nodded his head in acknowledgement and continued to stare out over the water.  

"How do you know so much about our parents?" he asked.  "My father refuses to tell me anything and the little that I do know, my mother reluctantly told me."  

"She was probably reluctant because she knew your father did not want you to know."

"I wonder why not?"

Kaori shifted on the sand, stretching her legs out in front of her and leaning back on her hands.  "You should ask him."

"Ask him what?"

"Anything."

He was silent.  She hadn't said much to him, but she was absolutely correct.  Ever since he was about thirteen he'd resented his father.  His father never told him anything, denied being a Gundam pilot even though he'd seen his father's picture and read about his accomplishments in history class.  He'd not spoken to his father much since that day.  Maybe now he should bury old resentments and actually try speaking to his father.  "Do you think I should follow him?" he asked, hoping she realized he was referring to applying for the Academy.  

"He was not a cadet here." 

At least she understood what he'd been talking about.  "He wasn't?"

"The Preventors were established after the Eve wars.  Your parents were both a part of the military during the wars, and then they became instructors here."

"Your parents are instructors here?" he asked.

"Yes.  My father works with computer systems analysis and marksmanship.  My mother specializes in combat training and reconnaissance.  They both work with body conditioning classes."

"And you want to go to school here?"

"You specialize in using a statement as a question, don't you?" she teased. 

He laughed a little.  "I guess I do."

"Yea," she agreed.  "I guess I want to go to school here," she said.

"You aren't sure about going to school here?"

She smiled when she noted that he did it again, asking a question using a statement.  "I don't know my purpose in life," she confessed.  "It makes me feel empty to not know my purpose.  And since I have no idea what to do, I suppose being a part of the only military in existence and following my parents is the best thing for me."

"No purpose?"

She sighed heavily and stood up.  "I suppose I'm like my father.  My mother teases him about 'needing a mission' all the time…"  She never finished her statement, but reached a hand down to help him up.  

He took her offered hand and stood up stiffly.  They must have been sitting there for quite a while, since his muscles were cold and not working properly.  She tried to pull her hand back, but he kept it in his grip.  "I'm Hayden Maxwell," he said, shaking her hand.  He used his mother's nickname for him, rather than his real name.  

"Kaori Yuy," she said with a shy smile.  "I hope I helped."

"You did."  He released her hand and started walking with her back to the main building.  "I just never considered my father's feelings much in all of this.  You're right, I do need to talk to him more often."

"Talking helps when you want to understand someone.  Reading minds doesn't work for everyone."  She smiled.

Once inside the building, Hayden cursed the low power mode.  He'd wanted to see her, to see what she looked like.  Though she was distant and quiet, she was beautiful inside, caring and sweet.  He wanted to know if the outside matched the inside.  

Kaori told him a little about the building as they made their way though the halls and toward the elevator.  Down that hallway were the gyms and training module hangars.  Down that way was the cafeteria.  In the elevator she gave him a quick run-down.  The first and second floors contained classrooms, gyms, and instructors' private offices.  The third through fifth floors were dorm rooms for the cadets, each floor holding two hundred persons with two people in each room.  

"Coed floors, but no coed rooms, much to the disappointment of some…" she added with a smile.  He only wished the lights in the elevators worked.  She pressed the fourth floor button.  "I live on fourth floor," she explained.  "Room 437.  You're more than welcome to visit me there any time you like."

He smiled.  Visiting her was something he'd definitely have to do tomorrow.  

"The sixth floor houses the instructors who decided to stay on campus," she continued with her explanation of the Academy building.  

"What's on floors seven through fourteen?" he asked, noticing that those buttons did not light on the elevator as brightly as the first six floors did. 

"Research, med labs, weapons development, intelligence," she said.  "All under strict authorized access rules.  That's why we can't just push those buttons."  Kaori pointed at the buttons.  He noticed that they had a kind of covering over them that only unlocked when an access code was entered to the keypad on the right and there was another security measure that required an id card of some sort.  

They exited the elevator together when it reached the fourth floor.  He intended to walk her to her room.  Something his mother had taught him, to be a gentleman and make sure she arrived safely at her home.  

"I hope you feel better," she said, giving him a little hug when they reached her door.  

"I hope so too.  I'll see you tomorrow?"

She smiled because he asked a question with a statement, again.  "I'll be easy to find."


	3. Finding Their Place

Ryoko-onee: ok, so you're like the best reader/reviewer ever!  I'm so glad that I keep you interested in my stuff.  Believe it or not, I'm very apprehensive about posting most of my things, so hearing from you each time really gives me what I need to keep posting.  I'll continue on with this story for your sake, and I happen to think its one of my best ones so far.  Too bad no one else reads it, ne?  Thanks  :) jin

Chapter Two

"Where were you?"

The soft voice came from the darkness of his apartment when he walked in.  He knew it was his father without having to see the source of the voice.  His father had waited up.  

"I went for a walk," Hayden said, knowing that he wasn't completely lying.  He'd never been one to lie.  His brother, on the other hand, could make up a story to rival the best of fibbers when the occasion called for it.  Hayden had always been a sucker for telling the truth.  

"Where?"  His father came forward from the small den.  His hair was down and combed and he wore sweatpants, showing that he was ready to go to sleep but waiting up just for Hayden to come home.  

He walked closer to his father, seeing for the first time his father's haggard appearance, which told him Duo was truly worried about him.  Maybe he should try talking to his father, rather than treating him coldly and going straight to his room.  Hayden decided to talk.  "I just wandered through the building for a while, looking around.  I ended up outside by the lake.  Met Kaori out there."

"Really?" his father seemed pleasantly surprised to hear him talk so much.  

"Yes."

"What is she like?"

"Nice," he answered.  "I'm going to bed now."

His father nodded.  "Goodnight, Son."

"'Night, Dad."

Duo smiled as Hayden left the den and walked back to his bedroom.  That was the first time Hayden had called him 'Dad' since Hilde had become sick over six months ago.  

*   *   *   *   *   *   *

Hayden woke up with a person lying halfway on top of him, stealing the covers.  

"Uh, Luke," he moaned, pushing his little brother away from him.  Little was a relative term.  When referring to age, then Luke was the "little" brother, but as far as size went, Luke was at least four inches taller and a good 20 pounds heavier than Hayden.  Not that Hayden was a small boy, reaching about six feet in height.  His brother just happened to be a giant freak of nature.  

Luke moaned a little and then realized he'd been so close to his brother.  They had to share a bed, but share a pillow?  That was a little much.  Hastily, he recoiled from his brother's side and sat up in bed.  "Sorry Hade," he growled sleepily.  "Your hair is all over me."  Luke was busy brushing off his arms and chest, getting Hayden's hair off of his skin.

Hayden undid the loose, falling-apart braid and combed through his hair with his fingers before rebraiding it.  

"Why do you keep your hair so long?" Luke asked him.  He always asked him that.

"Cause Dad would rather me be normal looking and have short hair like you," Hayden answered with a smirk.  He reached over and ruffled his hand through Luke's tresses.  "I get the shower first," he called as he left their bedroom.  

His father had breakfast waiting for them by the time he'd washed and dried his hair.  Luke, of course, took a shower, got completely dressed, and helped Duo cook in the time it took Hayden to dry his waist-length hair.  He left his hair down today.  His father noticed.

"Where are you going today?" Duo asked him.

"I was planning on seeing Kaori this morning.  Maybe she could show me more about joining the Preventors.  But I didn't want to get down there too early.  I don't want to wake her," Hayden said truthfully.  

"If she's anything like Heero used to be," his father said with a reminiscent smile, "you don't have to worry about waking her up.  She never sleeps."

 "I want to go," Luke piped up between mouthfuls.  "I want to know about joining the Preventors, too."

Luke had always done everything Hayden had.  One brother couldn't do anything without the other getting jealous and demanding to be able to do the same.  "Why do you want to join?" Hayden asked, an edge of anger in his voice.

"I'm seventeen, _Hades_," he said, using Hayden's real name.  Hayden always hated it when Luke used his real name.  "I can make my own decisions on what to do."

"Sure you can, _Lucifer_," Hayden said sarcastically, using his brother's real name just to aggravate him.  

"Now boys," Duo warned.  He could tell when his sons were about to get angry at each other.  Now was one of those times.  "Settle."

"Yes, Father," Luke said submissively.  

Hayden glared at him.  Luke always had to be the good son first, just to make him look bad in front of their dad.  "Well, I'm ready to go," he announced, getting up from the table.  "If the jolly green giant wants to come, then get moving."  He waited by the door for Luke to finish some breakfast and join him.  

The brothers talked absently about the color of the hallways and the design of the building as they walked down the hall of the fourth floor.  Hayden stopped in front of room 437 and knocked softly.

No answer.

He knocked a little louder.

No answer.

"Kaori?" he called as he gripped the doorknob, turning slightly.  He didn't expect the door to be unlocked, but it opened slowly in front of him, revealing her room.  It was a bare dorm room, with bunk beds, two desks, and a small closet.  The bottom bed was perfectly made and the top didn't even have sheets on it.  Hayden figured that her roommate hadn't arrived yet.  He wandered around the room, looking it over.

"Hade," his brother called.  Hayden walked over to where he stood in front of a desk.  A small piece of paper was on the desk, and the words "Gym Three" were printed in block letters on the paper.  

"I guess she's in Gym 3," Hayden said to Luke.  They shrugged at each other and walked out of the room, closing the door behind them.  

*   *   *   *   *   *   *

Hayden watched with wide eyes as Kaori sparred with the Chinese girl in Gym 3.  They had similar outfits on, basic silk pants and matching silk robed tunics.  But they had obviously been practicing for some time, for the tunics had been flung on the floor and each girl remained in her sports bra.  Kaori was wearing a blue uniform that matched the color of her father's eyes, while the Chinese girl looked stunning in blood-red silk.  Both of them had long onyx or dark brown hair that was braided into a rope which swung around them as they tumbled and fought.  They glistened with sweat, and from the doorway, Hayden and Luke could hear them breathe loudly.  

He had been right.  Even though she was tired and spent, the girl he thought had been beautiful inside was even more beautiful outside.  He couldn't tear his eyes off of the lithe figure that flexed and moved gracefully before him.  But her grace couldn't compare to her Chinese counterpart's, he noticed.  The Chinese girl had a smaller frame and not as much muscle, but she moved quickly and nimbly, reminding the Maxwell brothers more of a cat than a person.  

They were so enthralled in their observations that they didn't notice the father coming up from behind them.  

"Entertaining, aren't they?" a deep voice said, making the boys jump in surprise.

"Yes sir," Hayden said, the first to recover from the scare.  "Is that your daughter, Mr. Chang?" he asked the Chinese man with the short ponytail who stood beside him inside the doorway.

"She is," he replied softly.  "I think you've met her once."  Wufei didn't mention that the 'once' he was referring to was Hilde's funeral.  "I'm sorry Sally could not have been there with her.  She and Heero had their hands full with Kaori."

"No need to apologize, sir," Luke said with a little smile.  "We understand.  And what was wrong with Kaori?"  Luke correctly assumed that the Chinese girl was Wufei's daughter and the other girl was this Kaori person his brother had been with all night last night.

"She simply gets sick sometimes."  Wufei offered no other explanation and the boys decided it was best not to inquire further.

Changing the subject, Hayden asked, "Did you teach them?"

"Yes," Wufei answered with a smile.  "Since they could first walk."  He glanced aside at the similar looking brothers.  They could be twins, he decided, if one wasn't a few inches taller and the other didn't have hair like his daughter's.  If he hadn't already known, he would have assumed the taller one was a year older than the long-haired one, instead of the other way around.  "Would you like to learn?"

Luke shook his head no.  "Father taught us a little when we were younger," he explained.  "Much to our mother's displeasure."

Wufei laughed.  "You trust Duo to teach you about martial arts?  That is the funniest thing I think I've heard all week."  He stopped talking to laugh some more, holding his sides.  

"If we join the Academy," Hayden said after Wufei's laughing fit died down, "then you can teach us everything Father did wrong."

"Join the Academy?" Wufei repeated, not believing his ears.  "Duo would let you?"

Hayden only nodded slowly, not taking his eyes from the girls in front of him.  

"Kaori," Wufei called.  She didn't break her concentration from the Chinese girl in front of her, but Hayden saw her head perk a little in Wufei's direction, showing that she was paying attention.  Kaori landed a kick to the side of the Chinese girl's head, making her fall to the mat.  The girl hopped up quickly and tried to return the blow, but Kaori blocked with her forearm.  "You never told me they wanted to join the ranks here," Wufei accused.

"They haven't decided, yet," she yelled at him, still not stopping her current fighting.  

"You should have told me," Wufei scolded, his eyes narrowing at her.  

"Forgive my intrusion," Hayden said politely, thinking that this Chinese man was not one to interrupt, "but I came here today to talk to Kaori about it, before I make up my mind."

Wufei shook his head slightly.  "Kaori may not be the best person to ask," he said softly with a certain growl in his voice.  He directed his attention to the girls again.  "Mei, Kaori!" he called.  "Stop and come here to meet the Maxwell boys."

The Chinese girl's face brightened a little as she smiled devilishly in their direction.  "Boys?" she repeated with a grin.  "Oh goody."

Wufei rolled his eyes.  "Your father's here, child," he said with an exasperated tone.  "Try to behave at least until I leave."

"Of course, Daddy," she said, walking over and planting a kiss on his cheek, careful not to touch his uniform and get it sweaty.  "I always behave."  Kaori came behind her, giving Wufei a similar kiss on the cheek, but she remained much more reserved and seemed almost bashful.

"Mei," Wufei said with a little smile, "meet Maxwell's boys."  He gestured to the two young men in front of him.  

"Nice to meet you," she said holding out her hand in an American greeting.  "I'm Chang Po Mei, Wufei and Sally's daughter."

Hayden took her hand first, shaking it and then slightly bowing in a Chinese greeting.  His father hadn't neglected to teach him a little bit of culture.  "The pleasure is mine," he said.  "Call me Hayden, please."  He ignored the surprised glance he received from his brother when he mentioned that name instead of his real name.  Kaori, he was sure, hadn't missed that glance.  

"And I'm Lucifer Maxwell," Luke said, taking her hand next and repeating his brother's bow.  "Please call me Luke."  The other girl hadn't introduced herself to his brother, but Luke saw them smile and nod at each other in greeting.  So they had met before, he thought.  He took her hand next, shaking it firmly.  "And you must be Kaori Yuy."

"Yes," she said softly.  She seemed awfully distant for Luke's tastes.  

But Mei was much more friendly and inviting, so he turned to talk to her.  "Are you joining the Academy this year?"

"That I am," she said with a bright smile.  "This is the first year I'm eligible.  I only barely missed the deadline last year, so they wouldn't let me join early.  Despite the influence of my father," she said with a sideways glance at Wufei.  

Wufei smiled and blushed a little.  "Well, I merely came down to check on you girls," he said, excusing himself.  "Your mother will expect you for dinner," he said to Mei before giving her another kiss on the cheek and leaving.

"And what about you," Luke said, turning to Kaori.  "Is this the first year you were eligible?"

"I've attended before," she said softly.  "When I was seventeen."

Hayden looked up with confused eyes.  She'd attended the Academy before?!  

Mei cleared her throat and brought the attention back to her.  "Would you like to go to the Cafeteria and get some breakfast?"  

"We've already eaten," Luke said, "but I wouldn't mind keeping you company."

Together they left Kaori and Hayden in the gym.  

Kaori walked across the floor, picking up her discarded robe and putting it on.  She untied her hair and rebraided it, looking very similar to Hayden when she did so.  Some time passed before Hayden could bring himself to speak.

"You didn't tell me that you'd done this before," he accused, more than a little confused.

"You didn't ask."  

Hayden didn't ask her to explain what happened, he just followed her as she walked out of the gym and made for the stairs at the end of the hallway.  When they reached the stair well, the girl turned around and looked him in the eye.  Being a few stairs above him, she was eye-level with him.

She sighed.  "You knew I was nineteen," she said with her own accusing tone.  "You could have figured out that something went wrong before."  Kaori turned around and started up the stairs again.  Hayden followed.  

"But there could be many reasons to why you didn't start in the Academy before," he insisted.  "Your parents could have thought you weren't ready and made you wait until you were a little older.  You could have only recently decided to join.  You could…"

"I know."  Her soft voice automatically commanded he stop explaining.  He couldn't tell how, but her voice always seemed wise and demanding of respect.  It was a little scary.

They reached the fourth floor and she held the door open for him.  He walked through reluctantly, feeling odd at having a girl hold open a door.  In silence, they walked side by side down the hallway.  Kaori stopped in front of the girls' community bathroom.

Hayden nodded, showing that he understood she meant to take a shower before continuing talking to him.  "Can I meet you in your room?" he asked.

She smiled and nodded.

*   *   *   *   *   *   *

Mei laughed again for the hundredth time since she met Luke.  They meshed perfectly together, both loving a good time and enjoying talking to each other about anything and everything.  He had recently made a good cafeteria food joke.

And he looked good too, she thought.  Luke looked more like his father than Hayden did, with dark chestnut colored hair and a cute heart-shaped face.  She assumed that Hilde must have had light blue eyes, for Luke's eyes were a beautiful ice blue color that she had only seen in Aunt Cathy before now.  His short hair was shaggy and messy, reminding her of Uncle Heero's hair that seemed to never tame or behave.  She liked Luke immediately.

And she loved his personality.  Living around Kaori made a kind of fog fall over her joyful spirit.  Of course, she loved her "cousin" like a sister and wouldn't trade all the fun they'd had together and their relationship for anything in the world, but Kaori had a way of seeing the dark side of things.  Kaori could look into people's hearts and see the evil that lurked inside, and all that knowledge let the darkness in Kaori's soul grow and grow until it consumed her.  And two years ago, the bad things in her had consumed her spirit, leaving nothing but a mangled shell of a girl behind.  Kaori worked hard to restore her previous personality, but nothing seemed to expel that gloomy feeling which laced through every fiber of Kaori's being.  Even now, Kaori fought the demons she concealed inside.  That Hayden fellow reminded Mei of Kaori, as if he had some secrets hidden deep inside, too.  Maybe the two of them could work it out together, she mused.  But right now, she was more than thrilled to be spending her time with the more carefree and joyful of the two brothers.  Luke's happy-go-lucky attitude made Mei's similar personality blossom.  

"Where are we going now?" Luke asked as they headed toward the elevator.

"To see my mother.  She's on level seven today."

Luke cocked his head to the side and knitted his brows together in a comical representation of confusion.  "There's a level seven?" he asked.

Mei couldn't help but laugh.  "Yes, silly.  There's a lot of levels that students can't go to.  I only have pass codes for levels seven and eight, since that's where my parents can be found most of the time."  She entered the elevator and pulled an id card out of her pants pocket.  Inserting the card into the slot, she proceeded to punch in a seven-digit code on the keypad and then press the "7" button on the elevator.  The button lit up and the elevator started moving.  Her card was spit out of the reader.  

"Wow," Luke said with wide eyes.  "I feel so much like a secret agent being able to go up to a security coded level seven."

Mei laughed again.  "It's not that big of a deal," she tried to explain.  "Just the medic level."

The elevator dinged.  They walked out of the large steel doors, and Luke followed Mei down the hallways to a door on their left.  She knocked on the closed door.

Shuffling was heard inside, and Mei could make out both a male and female voice inside.  "Oh no," she moaned.  

Luke was about to ask why she said that when Wufei opened the door, his hair down and falling to his shoulders in a very messy way.  He smiled and blushed embarrassingly in front of his daughter and her friend before excusing himself and hurrying off.  

"Mom!" Mei complained.  "Do you have to do that all the time?"  She walked through the doorway to see her mother combing out her hair with her fingers.  

"That's one of the perks of working in the same building, dear," the woman said, turning around and smiling at her daughter.  "Hello again, Luke.  It's nice to see you comfortable here in the Academy."  

Luke recognized her as one of the women he'd seen hug his father, the woman who'd met them downstairs yesterday when they'd arrived at the Academy.  


	4. Ripples of Distrubance

As requested, Ryoko-onee, I have posted my next chapter quite promptly.  Hope you enjoy!

Chapter Three

Kaori returned from the shower more quickly than Hayden had expected.  She was wrapped in a towel, so Hayden politely turned around in his seated position on her bed to face the wall, in order to give her privacy to dress.

"Thanks," she said, noting his change.  Kaori got dressed quickly and sat beside him on the bed, causing him to look over when he felt the pressure on the mattress change.  "Help me?" she asked, handing him her brush.  

Hayden nodded and started brushing out her wet hair.  It seemed black when it was wet.  He knew that hair was heavy and hard to tame when it was wet, so he didn't object at all to the intimate gesture of brushing her hair.  Not that he minded the intimacy either.  When finished, he was surprised to see a pair of scissors in Kaori's hand.  She gave them to him and stood up, letting her hair fall all the way down to her knees.

"What do you want me to do with these?" he asked, holding the scissors up.  

"Cut it off."

"What?!  All this beautiful hair and you want me to cut it?  No way."

She turned around and looked up at him.  "Please Hayden.  I have wanted to cut it for a while now.  I'm tired of such cumbersome hair."  Kaori smiled a little and reached up to brush the bangs out of his face. Her hand trailed back and touched the braid behind his neck.  "Besides, you have enough hair for the both of us."  

Submitting to his poorer judgment and the pull of his hormones, Hayden took the opportunity of a girl's hand around his neck to lean down and kiss her tentatively.  He didn't know what to expect, feeling his lips press lightly against hers.  He almost expected her to slap him across the face when he stood back up.  But she smiled shyly instead, averting her eyes and looking down at the ground.  

"I'm sorry," he stated, looking thoroughly embarrassed.  "I shouldn't have…"

 "It's alright," she said softly, turning around and facing away from him.  "Are you going to cut my hair now?"

Hayden cleared his throat and took a handful of her hair in his hand.  "You're sure about this?"  She nodded.  

"Ok then.  I'll cut some of it."

In fact, he cut over half of it off.  When Hayden was done, her hair no longer fell down to her knees, but stopped abruptly about six inches below the top of her shoulders.  

"Do you like it?" he asked, scared as she looked at herself in the mirror for the first time.  She twirled in a circle, letting her hair fan out around her as she spun.  

"It's perfect," she answered, settling down and brushing it out.  She quickly pulled her hair up into a bun, with her short bangs falling down over her eyes.  Hayden smiled as she frowned at her unruly bangs.  He set the scissors down on the nearby desk.  "We should go and see how Mei is doing with your brother," she said as she gave up trying to push the last few wisps of hair into place.  

"If I know my brother," Hayden said as they left the room, "Mei has already killed him for being annoying by now."

Mei had not killed Luke by the time they arrived upstairs at Sally's office.  The two were still inside and chatting merrily with Mei's mother about the classes offered at the Academy for doctors.  All of a sudden, Luke was avidly interested in pursuing a career in the medical field.  Mei joining the ranks of the Academy to become a doctor had nothing to do with his sudden interest in medicine.  

"Hello dear Kaori," Sally said with a smile when they walked into the office.  "I see you've met the Maxwell boys.  I was just discussing with Luke here the possibility of becoming a doctor through the Academy, like Trowa and I have.  Have you talked to them about being in the Academy yet, Kaori?"

"No ma'am," Kaori answered softly with her head bowed.  "Wufei doesn't think I'm the one to speak to on such matters."

"Oh, Kaori," Sally said in her best nurturing mother voice.  "Don't pay any attention to him.  Just because of … because of the little … mishap that happened?  There's no reason to be ashamed of that anymore.  It's in the past.  No one even remembers, I promise.  Why else would they let you back in the Academy if it wasn't perfectly alright with General Noin?"

Kaori rolled her eyes a little and glared at Sally.  "Do you know who my parents are?" she asked with an icy tone of voice.  "They know how to get what they want."

No one had noticed Wufei's entrance until he spoke, "And they want you to be happy, child.  That is all they want."  He put a hand on either of her shoulders from behind.  She tensed under his hands.

"But…Yes, Uncle Wu," Kaori started to protest and then resigned.  She closed her eyes tight.

Wufei patted her head and gave her a half-hug with one arm.  

Duo burst through the doorway.  "Wu-man! You gotta come see…"  He looked around the room and grinned sheepishly.  "Oops," he said backing out slowly.  "Hi boys.  I'll just…show you some other time when you're not so busy."

"What is it now, Maxwell?" Wufei asked, releasing his hold of Kaori and facing Duo.  

Duo grinned maniacally before answering, "You know there's a machine shed down by the lake that has all those old broken training modules stored in there?"

"Yes…"

"Well, not anymore!"  Duo grinned again before turning his head and looking down the hallway.  They could hear someone screaming in the distance.  That someone sounded very angry.  "Noin's pissed," he explained.  "You don't know where I am."  Duo took off running down the hall.  

Everyone stood around, looking confused for a moment.  Noin then appeared in the doorway.  "Have you seen Maxwell?" she asked.  Her hair was mussed and her face glowed an unhealthy shade of angry red.  

"We don't know where he is," Mei answered.

Noin took off stomping down the hallway ranting, "I'll kill him.  I'll choke him with that Goddamned braid!" 

Sally let out a sigh.  "Just like old times," she said shaking her head as she sat back down at her desk.

"And it gets better," Wufei said as he headed toward the office door.  "Now instead of one, there're three Maxwells running around here."

The kids took their leave of Sally's office and made their way back to the elevators.  

"I've never seen father act like that," Luke said with awe in his voice.  

"He used to get into trouble all the time, Heero says," Mei offered.

"Why didn't they get rid of him?" Hayden asked.

Kaori took the opportunity to tell what she knew.  "Colonel Maxwell was essential to uphold the moral of the Gundam pilots.  He made them all laugh and kept them all friends when they were ready to kill each other.  Especially my father.  And on more than one occasion, he single-handedly saved the lives of the pilots, including my parent's lives several times."

"Really?" Luke asked, wonderment creeping into his voice as he heard about his father's accomplishments as a soldier.  "He saved your parent's lives?"

The elevator dinged and they all got in.  Mei pushed the button for level 6, intending to go home.  Kaori continued telling her story.

"That's how your father met both of my parents.  He helped my father escape from a being a prisoner in a military hospital.  Of course, he was also the one to shoot my father and send him to the hospital.  Their relationship got off to a rocky start, but they became the best of friends."  They reached level 6 and filed off the elevator.  "Colonel Maxwell met my mother when he and my father went to save her from an OZ prison, after my mother had put herself in the prison cell in order to save your father.  That one gets a little confusing," she admitted as they walked down the hallway to their apartments.

"Of course it's confusing," a voice piped up from an open doorway.  Duo soon stuck his cheerful head into the hallway and motioned for them to enter his apartment.  "Jinx cut her hair and dressed like a me in order to replace me in the jail cell.  I escaped with Sally, never knowing I had a Mimic.  When we found out, after Jinx had been severely tortured, Heero and I went to break her out of the OZ prison."

"How come you never told us this stuff, Dad?" Luke asked.

"It didn't seem important before.  I didn't want you kids growing up thinking that a soldier's life is the only one to choose.  Hilde and I both wanted you to have normal childhoods, not influenced by your parent's war-hero stories," he explained.  "Then we blew up an artillery base," Duo continued with his earlier story, "and nearly froze to death in the Arctic tundra.  Trowa, Quatre, and Wufei were able to find us before we became permanent ice cubes."  The kids sat around the kitchen table, intrigued by Duo's short recap of squashing the last OZ uprising from 20 years ago.  Duo smiled to himself.  "Heero thought that Jinx liked me and not him.  It was a funny little misunderstanding.  And then of course, Relena's palace blew up, Heero and Jinx were both inside.  We fished them out of the wreckage and patched them back together.  After that, we infiltrated the OZ base, Heero became prisoner, Jinx had her own problems with interrogation chips implanted on her, and somehow we all escaped, killed the bad guys, and saved the world."1  He smiled broadly at the awestruck kids.

"You did all that, Dad?" Luke asked, disbelieving the whole story.  His father a war hero?  It was just too weird for him to believe.  Blowing up bases, fishing people out of bomb wreckage, saving the world?  

"Of course he did," Heero said with a smile.  He was leaning on the doorway, listening to Duo's rendition of the events.  "But as I remember, I carried Jinx out of the OZ prison, I infiltrated the OZ base with Jinx, and she was the one to blow up the base and help me escape."

"Minor details," Duo said with a dismissive wave of his hand.  "We still saved the world.  Again.  For about the third time.  Bad guys never take a rest, do they buddy?"

"They have for about the last twenty years," Heero corrected.   

"Minor details," Duo said again.

Heero crossed the room towards Duo menacingly.  "Speaking of details," he said with a playful growl in his voice.  "What's with adding the little tidbit of me thinking Jin liked you and not me?"

Duo smiled evilly.  "I just thought it was funny.  You were always too insecure to just accept the fact that a beautiful woman loved you.  You always got all disheartened when you saw her smile at Wufei or dance with me or hold hands with Trowa…"

"Of course I would," Heero countered.  "She slept in your and Trowa's beds for nearly five months before we got married."  He poked a finger hard into Duo's chest.

"Ouch," Duo whined, rubbing the center of his chest.  "And she came to us, man.  We didn't ask her to leave your room and stay with us."

"I know," Heero said with a small smile and a faraway look in his eyes.  "Duo, you bring back all these memories that I hadn't thought of in years.  You even had me calling her Jinx a couple times back there."

Duo smiled.  "I noticed that."

"Jinx, Uncle Heero?" Mei asked, wanting clarification.

Heero smiled down at his "niece" and said, "That was her name when we met her.  She got that when she entered the OZ military ranks."

"OZ military ranks?" Luke asked.

"Yes, she worked for the enemy when she was younger.  In fact, she was an OZ Special.  But she changed sides after OZ was defeated and disbanded during the Eve wars.  She joined the Preventors and became friends with Sally then," Heero explained.  "Speaking of your mother," he said, turning to Kaori.  "I was going to find you when I heard Duo telling his story.  I'm glad you're in here and close by."  He smiled at her warmly.  Kaori tensed and her eyes turned a little colder as she watched him.  She knew what he was about to say, and she hated hearing it.  "Your mother's accepted another mission and won't be back for a couple of days…"

"I knew it," she hissed, interrupting her father.

"Kaori," he started with a warning tone in his voice.  He hoped she wouldn't get into another fight.  Not here in front of Duo and his kids.  Not now after they'd all shared a story together.

"Don't you try to sush me!" Kaori said louder, standing up quickly and bracing her hands on top of the table.  Her chair fell over when she stood up so abruptly.  

"Kaori, sit down!" Heero said, raising his voice and becoming a commanding soldier.

"And don't tell me what to do!" she screamed.  Kaori started stalking around the table and out of the corner where she had been sitting.  "You let her go off like that, _Dad_.  You just let her go off and maybe never come back!"

"It's not my place to decide for her…" Heero said, his voice soft with defeat.  He'd had many arguments with Jin about her continued active service in the Preventors.  He had always lost those arguments.

"Then it's not your place to decide for me, either!" Kaori insisted. 

"That's different," he insisted, his voice growing harder.  

"How so?  You let your own wife go off on more suicide missions than you can count.  You let her leave knowing full well that we may never see her again.  How is it different?"

"She's old enough to make her own decisions…"

"You were FIFTEEN when you fought in the Eve wars.  FIFTEEN when you first self-destructed.  I'm nineteen years old, Father.  Don't give me any bullshit about old enough…"

"This is your mother's decision."

"Just as it is my decision…"

"You don't understand!"

"What don't I understand?"

Heero lost his temper.  "Your mother is a soldier, Kaori!  She _lives_ to serve the greater good!  And if she can do that by dying in her service, then so be it."

Kaori ran out of the room and down the hall.

[1] This all refers to the story "Jinx" I wrote that details how they met Jinx/Jin and squashed the last uprising of OZ.


	5. Joining the Academy

Ryoko-onee – You're right, nearly all the kids do have malfunctions.  Well, Kaori most of all…  

Chapter Four

Hayden didn't remember running out of his father's apartment in search of Kaori.  He didn't remember running through the halls and stairwells to get to her door.  He only knew that he found himself here, in front of her door and pounding on it for her to let him in.  

No one answered.

Without hesitation, he opened her unlocked door and burst into her room.

*   *   *   *   *   *   *

"Heero!" Duo breathed, not believing the words that had just escaped his friend's mouth.  Mei and Luke took their leave of Duo's apartments and left quietly.  

Heero sat down heavily in a recently vacated chair of the kitchen, letting out a sigh and preparing to let out a tremendous amount of emotion.  He knew Duo was there, in every possible sense of the word "there."  Duo was the most caring and supportive person Heero had ever met.  Duo had helped him live through some of the biggest tragedies of his life.  And now Duo was more that willing to help him with this.  He looked up at his braided friend with haunted eyes.

Duo moved a chair closer to Heero and sat with his arm around the shoulders of his friend, while Heero leaned forward on the table, his chin pillowed on his crossed arms.  "What's been going on, Heero?"

"She's convinced that her life's not worth living," he said simply.  It was the truth: harsh and real.  

Duo just shook his head slowly.  "But why?"

"Kaori.  Jin sees how she's developed…mentally.  It makes Jin feel…insignificant, somehow.  It makes her miss the way she used to be.  So she goes out on active duty to make up for it."  A few light tears fell from Heero's eyes.  "She thinks we've lost some of the intimacy, the connection, that we had at the beginning…"

"But you guys haven't had that kind of connection _since_ the beginning.  She lost her telepathic abilities after the interrogation chips…"

"I know."  Heero was silent for a long while.  He never really had understood why Jin felt the way she did.  They were here, amongst friends in the Academy with fulfilling jobs and careers as instructors.  They had a beautiful daughter.  They had each other.  And even without the initial connection that they'd had, Heero still loved her more than he could express in words.  He never understood why she continued to accept mission assignments from Une.  "I even tried asking Une to not consider Jin as a possible soldier for missions.  She said it was Jin's decision, and that I could beg all I wanted, but she'd use Jin while she could."

"What kinds of missions does she accept?" Duo asked.

"The kinds that no one else does.  The kinds where she's not expected to come back."

*   *   *   *   *   *   *

Kaori's room was empty.  Hayden searched every possible corner he could find.  She simply wasn't there.  _Of course she's not here_, he thought to himself.  Why would she come to her room when obviously didn't want to be found.  Hayden suddenly remembered the lake.  She had been there last night.  Maybe she went there again.

The lake was as peacefully still this afternoon as it had been last night when he and Kaori had first met each other.  Hayden spun in a circle when he reached the nearest shore, avidly looking for her.  Then he looked out over the water, searching along the faraway shores of the other sides of the lake.  No use.  With a sigh, he was about to accept defeat.  Until he remembered that she'd approached him last night from somewhere off to the right and around the shore of the lake.  

With a dim spark of hope in his heart, Hayden made his way around the shore of the lake, walking slowly and looking everywhere.  That spark started to fade as he made his way farther and farther around the lake.  He walked for an hour.  When he noticed that he'd reached the far end of the lake and could see the building complex of the Academy directly across the lake, he gave up trying.  Hayden fell into a sitting position in the sand, staring absently over the water.

He'd lost her.  He knew it.  He stayed there on the other side of the lake until the sun started setting, enflaming the clouds in bright hues of pink and orange.  The few lights that worked during the low power mode inside and outside the Academy came to life and cast little glows upon the ripples of the lake.  Darkness of night enveloped him quickly.  

"You haven't lost me yet," he heard her voice say, just as he was about to get up and go home.  

Relief flooded over him.  "How long have you been behind me?"

"Since about when you got here."  He felt her presence close to him as she sat down beside him.  It reminded him of when they sat together last night, except she was dressed in jeans and a t-shirt instead of in a simple dress.  And her hair was shorter and in a bun, rather than long and flowing around her.  

"So you've been watching me and reading my mind this whole time?" he asked with more of a sharp edge to his voice than he meant to convey.  

"Yes and no," she answered.  Kaori stretched her back and resettled in the sand, pulling her knees up to her chin and wrapping her arms around her legs.  "You haven't had a whole lot going through your mind until recently," she said.  "So I didn't bother reading your mind.  I've been thinking…"

"About what?"

"Many things.  About my mother.  About my father.  About you."  She blushed a little when she said that last part and purposefully looked out over the water to avoid his surprised glance in her direction.  "That I should tell you I was kicked out of the Academy when I was seventeen."

Hayden didn't know what to say to that.

"I have…problems…when it comes to following orders," Kaori continued.  "I know, strange for the daughter of the Perfect Soldier and an OZ Special to have problems following orders, huh?"  She had a hint of laughter in her voice.

He chuckled lightly.  It _was_ kind of ironic.  "So you didn't follow some orders…"

"…and they told me to leave halfway through my first year," she finished.  "I told my dad that I wanted to go back to the Academy, so he pulled some strings and got me readmitted this year."

"Do you really want to go back to the Academy?" Hayden asked.  

"Yes and no."  She laughed at her ambiguous answer.  "I want to be a soldier.  I want to go out on missions the way our fathers used to and the way my mother still does.  But I want to GO already.  I don't like the training part."

Hayden nodded slowly.  With living here at the Academy and having Heero and Jin as parents, he figured Kaori already knew more about being a soldier than some soldiers did.  It must be frustrating for her to go though the same training as everyone else.  The same training he'd need to go through.  "Will you help me then?" he asked.

"With what?" she asked, looking at him.  

He cocked his head to the side.  "You mean you weren't reading my thoughts?" he joked.

Kaori smiled.  "I can't do that kind of thing.  Empathy isn't like that.  Anyway, even if I could, it's a big invasion of privacy.  I'd try not to do that, you know…"

Standing up, Hayden offered a hand to help her up.  "And I wouldn't mind, you know," he said with a grin.  She took his hand, and he helped pull her to her feet.  "But I meant: would you help me at the Academy, since you already know this stuff and I know nothing?"

"You're joining?"

Hayden looked thoughtful for a moment.  "Yes," he said simply.  They started walking together back around the lake, towards their home.

*   *   *   *   *   *   *

The first day of classes arrived too early in the morning for Luke Maxwell.  Hayden yelled at him louder and shook his shoulder, trying to get the big guy out of bed.

"Alright, alright," he moaned, rolling over and falling out of the bottom bunk.  They'd moved into a room on the fifth floor with the rest of the cadets yesterday and he wasn't used to this small of a bed.  

"Get your ass up and dressed," Hayden said with a growl.  "Today is not a good day to decide to sleep in."  He was busy with problems of his own, having to tame his long mane into a tight braid.  But his hair seemed to have a mind of its own today.  

"I'm up, I'm up," Luke said, stumbling towards his closet.  He was stopped halfway there by a soft knock on the door.  Detouring, he opened the door.  

"You should get some clothes on.  You'll be late," Kaori said with a smile as she brushed past him and into the room.  Mei remained in the doorway, glancing with an embarrassed look at Luke, who stood in front of her in his boxers.  

"Sorry," he mumbled, reaching for his pants and pulling them on quickly.  

"Help me," Hayden whined at Kaori.  She laughed a little and walked to him, braiding his hair with efficiency that only someone who'd had long hair could achieve.  "And you should take a shower Luke," he added.  

"Not really…" Mei said.

"Why not?"

"Because Wufei's martial arts class is last on our schedules," Kaori explained.  "You'll get plenty dirty and sweaty then.  Take a shower after class."

"How do you know my schedule?" Luke asked, buttoning his shirt.  

Kaori rolled her eyes and kicked Luke's shoes in his direction.  "Do you honestly think that my Daddy didn't teach me how to hack into the school computer system?  Of course I know how to do that, and I checked your schedules."  

"What are your and Mei's schedules like?" Luke asked.

"Just like yours."  Kaori smiled and headed towards the door.  "There's only fifty first year students here, and we all have the same schedule."

*   *   *   *   *   *   * 

Kaori had been right.  After a quick breakfast, the four of them made their way to their first class, with Kaori's father as the instructor.  Combat Maneuvers.  In there they'd learn everything that they'd need for a mission, from marksmanship to military codes.  That class lasted all morning, and halfway through, Heero left the teaching to his assistant.  Lieutenant Commander West.  

The dark woman made her way to the front of the room after Kaori's father left.  So far, Hayden thought this wasn't going to be too bad, since Heero refused to give his daughter or any of the Gundam pilots' children special attention.  Lt. Commander West had a different idea in mind.

"Listen up, dogs!"  Her voice demanded attention and respect.  "This class will teach you how to survive in a mission.  Failure to comply with each and every rule we lay in this class WILL result in your death and possibly the deaths of your squad – if in a real situation.  Therefore we treat each and every training exercise as seriously as a real mission.  Any foul-ups will be accurately, swiftly, and severely punished."  Lt. Commander West glared directly at Kaori.  Hayden shifted uncomfortably in his seat and looked beside him at Kaori, who was giving her own Yuy death glare directly back to the woman.  "Understand that, Yuy?" West asked with the intent of unnerving the girl.

"Yes ma'am," Kaori said with a growl.

West walked over to her chair and leaned down.  "I asked if you understood that, Yuy," she said in a soft voice, dripping with venom.  

Kaori glared harder, narrowing her eyes.  After half a second, she stood up and gave a proper salute, holding her chin up and staring out with distant eyes.  "Yes Ma'am," Kaori said in a crisp soldier voice.     

"Glad to hear that, Yuy," West replied, circling Kaori like a vulture.  "You shouldn't have been readmitted into this institution, but since you're here, I'll make a good example out of you."  West smiled cruelly.  "Drop and give me twenty."

"Yes ma'am."  Kaori lowered her salute and promptly dropped to the ground, counting out her pushups.  "One…Two…Three…"

"I can't hear you, cadet!" West bent down and screamed into Kaori's ear.

"FOUR…FIVE…SIX…"

"This is bullshit."  Hayden glared at the instructor.

Lt. Commander West's head snapped around and looked at him.  "Did you say something, dog?"

Mei's hand clamped down on Hayden's knee and she whispered, "Don't Hayden…"

"I said THIS IS BULLSHIT!" Hayden said louder, getting up to stand taller than West.  

"I'm glad to have your opinion…" she peered at the nametag on his uniform shirt, "Maxwell.  You just gave your friend twenty more pushups."  West sneered and turned away from him.  "Hear that Yuy?"

"THIRTEEN…Yes ma'am…fourteen…"

Hayden sighed in defeat and sat down heavily.  That didn't quite go as he planned.  He fumed silently as he watched Lt. Commander West stalk around the room as she continued her lecture.  When Kaori reached twenty the second time, she got up slowly and sat back down next to him.

"Sorry about that," he whispered, too mad at himself to even look her direction.

"Don't worry about it," Kaori said, breathing a little heavy from the pushups.  "Her goal is to make me suffer."  

*   *   *   *   *   *   *

"And then she had to do _twenty_ more pushups…" Luke was saying when Kaori and Hayden made their way to the front Duo's classroom after he finished his lecture.  Mei was already sitting on Duo's desk next to Luke as Luke told his father about their first morning in the Academy.

"I hear you've had a bad day," Duo said to Kaori with a smile as she rested against the desk on the other side of Luke.  Other students filed silently out of the classroom, heading toward the last class of the day – Wufei's martial arts training.

"Could be worse," Kaori said.  

"And you need to learn how to keep your mouth shut," Duo said with a slight scolding tone as he addressed Hayden's presence.  

Hayden just snorted and continued wearing the angry frown that hadn't left his face since the pushup incident.  Kaori nudged him playfully.  His mouth twitched into a smile momentarily and then fell back into the frown.

"Hade's more upset about it than Kaori is," Luke explained, mimicking his father's broad smile.  There was nothing he enjoyed more than capitalizing on his brother's misfortunes.  "Come on, girls," he said, putting an arm around Mei and around Kaori.  "Let us head to our next intriguing class.  See you later, brother," he called as they left the room together.

"You better get going, son," Duo said, patting his shoulder.  

Hayden sighed.  "It's Wufei's class.  How hard can it be?"

*   *   *   *   *   *   *

Hayden's head pounded as he looked up at his Chinese instructor from his back on the floor.  Wufei's "initial analysis" of his students' skills had been going on all class period.  His only small victory lay in the fact that he had outlasted Luke against the Chinese master, if only for about thirty seconds.    

"Good job, Maxwell," Wufei said, offering a hand to help him up.  The same help he'd offered to every student who had fallen on the ground before him during Instructor Chang's sparring matches.  

"Thank you, sir," Hayden managed to reply as he accepted Chang's help and made his way unsteadily to his feet.  He walked back to where Luke, Mei, and Kaori waited for him on the floor.  Sitting heavily, he unconsciously rubbed the ache in his chest.  Wufei had already beaten another student by the time Hayden sat down.  

"Good job, Jackie Chan," Luke teased.

"Hey, I lasted longer than you did," Hayden pointed out.

"Only 'cause Master Chang stopped to retie his ponytail in the middle of the fight," Luke countered.  

"Now boys," Mei said with a mocking motherly tone, "Behave."

Luke just laughed.  Hayden sighed.  

This was going to be a long two years. 


	6. The Lion's Den

OK, since I haven't updated in forever, I'm posting about three chapters in a row.  Hope you don't mind the overload, but I feel like a loser cause I haven't updated.  

Chapter Five

"Wow, that Lt. Commander West sure was hard on you," a voice said during lunch on the second day of classes.  

Kaori looked up and behind her, seeing a blonde-haired cadet with dark brown eyes standing there with his tray in his hand.  She motioned for him to join them at the table, and he nodded quick hellos to Mei, Luke, and Hayden as he sat down next to Kaori.

"What has she got against you anyway?" he continued as he started picking through his lovely cafeteria lunch.  "I'm Daniel, by the way," he added, introducing himself.  He looked up expectantly and glanced around the table.  

"Hayden Maxwell."  Daniel leaned up in his seat to shake hands.

"Daniel Jackson," he replied.

"And I'm Mei Chang," Mei said, not thinking this guy would catch on if she gave her last name first, in traditional style.

"Nice to meet you," he said with a smile as he shook her hand, too.

"Maxwell.  Luke Maxwell," the younger brother said with a grin.

"Brothers?" Daniel asked with a raised eyebrow.  Both Maxwells nodded to affirm that they were, in fact, brothers.  "I thought so when I first saw you two, but didn't want to jump to conclusions."  He shook Luke's hand too.

"Smart of you not to assume," Kaori said in a low voice.  She had habits of saying random crap like that, Mei thought with a little disdain.  Here this guy was, trying to be nice, and she says some confusing fortune-cookie advice.

Daniel shrugged it off and continued with his further conversation, after deciding the girl wasn't about to introduce herself.  "You guys all sit together in the back, right?" he asked, scooping some unknown meat into his mouth as he began the conversation again.  More heads nodded around the table as they tried to stomach their lunch.  "I sit in the front during Colonel Yuy's class," he said, leaning forward a little to see the nametag on Kaori's shirt.  "Yuy?" he read out loud.  

"That's right," Kaori said with no emotion in her voice.  

"Related to Col. Yuy?" Daniel asked, not masking the surprise or awe in his voice.

"That's right," Kaori repeated.

"Col. Yuy is Kaori's father," Luke blurted, unable to handle how quiet Kaori was.  She glared at him for answering in her place.  He only gave her a silly look and said, "How could I keep quiet?  You're being a wet mop!"

Realization dawned on poor Daniel.  "Wait a minute," he said, calling Luke out of his 'mess with Kaori' session.  "Yuy…" he pointed at Kaori, "Maxwell…" he pointed at the brothers, "and Chang…" he said, pointing to Mei.  "You're all kids of the instructors here?"

"Yep!" Luke said with another Duo grin.  Mei and Hayden nodded.  Kaori was stone.  Luke frowned at her a little before he was distracted by the rest of the conversation.

"My true name is Chang Po," Mei said.

"As in Dr. Po?" Daniel asked.

Mei nodded.  

"Wow," he said.  "Did I ever pick the right table to come and sit at!  You guys must already know all the stuff we learn in class.  Is it boring?"

"Not for us," Luke said, jumping right into the conversation.  With Kaori being strangely quiet, he felt like he had to make up for her silence.  "Hade and I moved away from here when we were tiny and don't even remember any of it," he explained.  "All this stuff is new to us, too.  But Mei and Kaori here are old pros.  They promised to help us out."

"Maybe you guys could help me out too," Daniel said with a little hope on his face.  "I really can't afford to not graduate."  Questioning looks showed on all their faces, save Kaori's.  She seemed content to eat and simply listen to them talk, rather than actively participate.  "I was taken in by this really nice lady after my parents died when I was younger.  I guess her husband was killed in the war or something because she's always wanted me to "follow in his footsteps" and join the only military available."

"A lot of kids here had a parent that was in the Eve wars," Mei said.  "Even us."  She smiled warmly at the newcomer.  She knew Kaori wasn't fond of crowds, but it looked like they were going to accept this new guy into their tight circle.  Kaori would have to deal with it.  "It's almost time for next class," she announced.  "How about you come and sit with us during Col. Maxwell's class?" she offered to Daniel.

"That sounds great!" the blonde exclaimed, standing with the rest of them to head to their next class.

*   *   *   *   *   *   *

Hayden glared at Daniel for what seemed like the thousandth time since they'd met four weeks ago in the cafeteria.  Since then, the happy-go-lucky attitude of the blonde won over Mei and Luke as friends.  Kaori was still a little standoffish, but she did talk to him more often than not and smiled his direction several times a day.  The guy had his brother's, and father's, personality and you couldn't help but like him.  He'd be goofy when someone was feeling sad, and he'd be a comforting shoulder when someone didn't perform well in Chang's class or someone had to endure Lieutenant Commander West's push-up punishment.  Worst of all, Hayden couldn't help but like the guy either.  Which made it harder to despise him every time he got closer to Kaori.

He was watching them as they emerged from Chang's class.  Daniel turned out to be a natural and excelled in martial arts, despite his previous experience – which was zero.  Wufei recognized his potential, even through the newcomer's rookie mistakes, and was having him stay an hour after class with a few other students, including Luke, Mei, and Kaori.  Of course, Mei and Kaori assisted in instruction rather than receiving extra tutelage like Luke and Daniel.  Hayden wasn't a part of this get-together because Kaori still gave him private lessons after dinner, and therefore Wufei didn't insist that he join the afterschool bunch.  

Those private instructions Kaori gave him were the only time in which they could be alone together.  Either Daniel or Luke was always around her.  And no matter how much Kaori warmed up to him during those lessons, she always gave equal attention to all of them when she was around more than one boy at a time.  That made it impossible for Hayden to determine whether or not she liked him.  It drove Hayden up the wall.  

"Hey, Hayden," Daniel called, noticing him standing around in the hallway outside the gym.

"Hey," he called back with fake enthusiasm.  Only Kaori would know that he wasn't genuinely thrilled to see Daniel.  She frowned at him a little as he walked up to the group.  

"We were going to go to town tonight," Luke said with a big smile.  That's right, Hayden thought, tonight was their one night off for the next two weeks.  "We're all going," Luke continued, looking aside to Mei and Kaori.  Daniel nodded as Luke spoke.

Hayden took a step back and shook his head slowly.  "No, I don't think I want to go out anywhere tonight."  He looked at Kaori, hoping she'd back out too.

"Too bad," she said to him, giving him a sly smile.  "I guess we'll just see you tomorrow then."  Hayden's mouth nearly dropped open.  "I'm taking a shower," Kaori said to the rest of the group.  "Meet up after we get dressed?"

"Sounds good to me," Daniel said.  

They all said their quick goodbyes to Hayden and split for upstairs.  That didn't go the way he wanted at all.

*   *   *   *   *   *  *

Mei sighed as she brushed out Kaori's hair.  It had gotten shorter and shorter after Hayden's initial hacking and by now her hair was usually in a short tuft of a ponytail with strings of her hair that won't stretch back to the band falling in front of her face and down her neck.  But tonight she decided to wear it down.  Mei was having trouble styling such short hair.  And there were other things on her mind besides Kaori's hair.  

"What's wrong?" her roommate asked, bending her head back to look up at her.  

Mei sighed again, putting the brush down and falling backwards onto Kaori's bed.  "This just sucks."  Kaori turned around in her chair, facing Mei and waiting for her to continue with her rant.  "I just don't know what to do."

"I take it you have more problems than just my hair," Kaori said with a smile.  

"You don't know the half of it!  You know I like Luke, right?"

"Yeah.  You like him."

"Right!  See?  You know it.  I know it.  Practically our whole class knows it.  But does Luke know it?  NO!  The boy is completely clueless!"  Mei sat up on the bed, waving her hands wildly as she spoke.

"Then clue him in."

"I try, I try…but, I know it's a bad idea to stay in the family like this," she said, referring to their makeshift "family" and all their fathers being brothers.  "But I just can't help it.  I have a soft spot for Americans."

"Who doesn't?" Kaori said.  Often she'd found herself wanting to make a move on Hayden, but refrained because…well, she didn't know why she never said anything to him…

"And he's so big!  I mean, there's just something alluring about being that tall…"

"So you like them big and tall?" Kaori asked with a suggestive smile.

Mei rolled her eyes.  "I'm not trying to be perverted here.  There's just something about a tall guy that attracts me."

"Tall and American?"  Mei nodded.  "Then you should go for Luke, obviously," Kaori suggested.  

"I don't know though.  I just get mixed feelings from him.  Sometimes he's really nice and I think he likes me.  Then other times he just runs cold.  I try to send signals…"

"Then use other signals…"

"Like what!?"  Mei was starting to get more frustrated just thinking about it.  "You know what I did yesterday?  Did you see me when we were practicing in Daddy's afterschool class?  We ended up this close…" she leaned forward, her face uncomfortably close to Kaori's.  In fact, they were nearly touching noses as they looked at each other.  "This close," she continued, not moving from her too close proximity, "just staring at each other.  Not moving."  They stared at each other for a moment longer.  "I mean COME ON!  How can you be this close to someone and NOT want to kiss them!" Mei screamed in frustration.  

"Wow," a voice said from the doorway.  The girls instantly pulled back away from each other and looked at the entrance to their doorway.

"Daniel!" Mei shrieked as she got up from the bed.  

"We should walk in on the roommates a little more often, don't you think?" Daniel said to Luke beside him.  

"Definitely," Luke agreed, not blinking.  

Daniel was a little smoother on the recovery.  "You guys don't have to stop your little lesbian romp just because we're here.  Please, continue.  We'll watch." 

"Daniel," Kaori warned, getting up from her chair and deciding to just put her hair back in a ponytail and forget any fancy styling.  "Mei was just demonstrating something."

"Please, demonstrate on me," Luke pleaded, too quiet for anyone to hear.

Kaori continued, "She was just explaining that you can't have someone be that close to you and not get the idea that they want to kiss you.  That's all."

"Oh," Daniel said, walking closer to Mei.  "You mean you're little episode with Luke, don't you?" he teased as he whispered in her ear.

Mei nearly fainted.  "You know about that?"

Daniel just nodded and smiled, putting his finger to his lips in a signal for her to be quiet.  He nodded in Luke's direction behind him.  The poor guy was still there, stunned from having walked in on Mei and Kaori so close to each other.  Mei understood Daniel's gesture.  They shouldn't talk about it with Luke around.

"You guys ready to go?" Kaori asked, slipping and arm around Luke's waist and leading him out the door.  He still needed some help walking.

*   *   *   *   *   *   *

The loud music and noise along with the bright lights of the club bothered Kaori.  But she didn't tell any of her friends about it.  They looked like they were having too much of a good time.

Daniel and Mei were on the dance floor, amidst the swirl of twisting and writhing bodies.  Luke had been out there, making the group easy to spot due to his towering height, but now he was taking a rest from the hullabaloo and sitting at the booth next to Kaori.  His eyes never left Mei's moving body on the dance floor as she flowed in circles around Daniel.  Mei looked over to the booth every now and then, to make sure that Luke was still watching her.

Leaning in close to Kaori's ear, Luke spoke loud enough for her to hear him.  "She looks beautiful tonight," Luke said, appreciating the short skirt the Chinese girl was wearing.  

Kaori just nodded in agreement, not bothering to talk because Luke most likely wouldn't hear her anyway.  

"Do you think she likes me?" he asked, leaning a little closer to make sure Kaori would catch his words.  

She smiled and spoke into his ear.  "I think that's obvious, the way she's been winking at you all night long," Kaori teased.  "You should tell her."  

"I think I might," was all Luke could say before his attention was entirely devoted to Mei.


	7. Jin's Message

Chapter Six

Hayden stared up at the bottom of Mei's bed as he lay on Kaori's bunk.  He knew he shouldn't just be in their room, but he wanted to talk to Kaori.  He wanted to tell her something, but he didn't know if he had the courage to do it.  Despite the fact that they had gone out to a club tonight, since it was a weekend, he knew that Mei would be staying in her parents' apartment rather than the dorm room.  That would give him a little more privacy to talk to Kaori.  He was so absorbed in his thoughts about her, he didn't notice the door open at 01:47 that night.

Kaori knew he was in there before she opened the door.  She sensed him inside.  And she sensed that he was thinking, concentrating very hard on something.  So she opened the door slowly and quietly to not disturb him.  She closed the door just as quietly behind her, and he never looked over from where he lay on her bed.

The radio was on softly, playing one song over and over.  She knew the song was on repeat because she stood through four rounds of it, watching him as he thought intensely about whatever it was he was thinking about.  Kaori began to lose focus on Hayden, though.  The song.  He knew how this song reached her.  He knew it.  

She soon lost herself in the words that echoed in her heart.  This song made her feel…different somehow.  More confident.  This song raised emotions in her that she was afraid to acknowledge.  And with the song playing, she decided not to be afraid anymore.

Sighing and slipping off her shoes, she walked closer to the bed – her bed – that Hayden was laying on.  He looked up at her, eyes widening a little in surprise.  He probably hadn't expected her to be home yet.  He probably hadn't expected her to walk up this close before he noticed her sound.  But right now, she didn't really care about what he expected.  

He sat up on the bed, swinging his legs over the side and sitting straight.  Kaori walked closer, the sounds of the deep beat of the song thumping with her own heartbeat.  She wanted to reach out and touch someone.  She was glad that Hayden happened to be within reaching distance.

A sly, seductive smile pulled the corners of her lips, entrancing the young man on the bed.  Her lips moved as the words of the song began.  She put one knee on the bed, lightly rubbing her leg against the outside of his thigh as she did so.  Leaning forward, she whispered the words of the song into his ear.  

//  she spreads herself side open 

to let the insects in

she leaves a trail of honey 

to show me where she's been

she has the blood of reptile 

just underneath her skin

seeds from a thousands others 

drip down from within  //

Kaori's lips brushed over Hayden's ear and neck as she whispered the words to him.  Her voice was husky and growled along with the male lead singer, making her breath warm over the sensitive skin of his neck.  He longed for her to touch him, but even with the impossible closeness of her leaning near, she refrained from touching his body except for where her knee did against his leg.  Her neck was only centimeters from his mouth, and he turned his head to kiss her exposed neck.

//  oh my beautiful liar

oh my precious whore

my disease, my infection

i am so impure  //

Throughout whispering the chorus to him, Kaori endured the soft kisses on her neck.  After she finished reciting "impure," she returned the favor.  She let her hands run lightly up his chest and shoulders, then used them to bring his face to hers and lock their mouths in a passionate kiss.  As the second verse started, she pulled away from him slightly to whisper the words in his other ear.  

//  devils speak 

of the way in which she'll manifest

angels bleed 

from the tainted touch of my caress 

need to contaminate 

to alleviate this loneliness

i know now 

the depths i've reached are limitless //

Hayden pulled on her hips slowly, moving her closer and closer to him so that she was on his lap, with a leg on either side of his body.  He held her head to his as they kissed again, pulling her with him as he laid back slowly on the bed.  

They never heard the rest of the song, because they were so involved in each other.

*   *   *   *   *   *   *

"Hurry up," Heero growled as he and Duo waited for the elevator to take them to the 7th floor.  Kaori was already upstairs, having sprinted there immediately after delivering the message to her father.  And Wufei was waiting with the message.  

Heero grumbled a few choice words pertaining to the elevator's heritage as the doors opened up to reveal the seventh floor.  He rushed down the hallway with Maxwell on his heels to Sally's office.  Wufei had just happened to be there, getting something for Sally's research, when Jin's coded call came through.  

Wufei paced his love's office floor.  Too bad the individual communicators in the apartment rooms didn't have encryption, or this would have been a lot easier for Jin.  As it is, she had to send the message to a communicator that decoded Preventor encryption, and such communicators were only available on the seventh and eighth floors of the Academy.  Sally's office included.  He'd called everyone he could to tell them that Jin was sending a coded message, but Kaori was the only one to answer the vid-phone in her room.  Heero must not have heard the ring, or more likely he turned it off sometime earlier and conveniently forgot to turn it back on.  

"He's here," Kaori announced, moments before her father and an out-of-breath Duo burst into Sally's office.  Wufei wasted no time in pleasantries.  He played the message.

Jin's face appeared on the monitor, and she was dressed in her Preventor field uniform.  The background behind her was a plain wall, which didn't give any clue as to her true location.  Even Heero didn't know where she had gone this time.  "Sally," Jin began, looking tired.  "I hope you forgive my intrusion into your valuable time, but I need your help.  A horrible plot has been uncovered through our research and activities here.  Please, go and get Heero and the other pilots before you play the rest of this message."  Jin's voice paused, to give Sally time to press stop on the communicator and gather the required audience.  

Instead, it had been Wufei to pause the message, but he doubted that mattered.  Jin continued after only a moment.  "Heero," she said, her voice laced with sadness and love.  Kaori instinctively closed her eyes and put a hand over her heart, after hearing her mother's voice like that.  "We've uncovered … its horrible.  There's a List.  Quatre's family is first: Quatre Junior, Catherine, then Quatre.  After them, Kaori, myself, and you, dear."  The digital face of Jin closed her eyes and took a deep breath.  "We're all on there.  Trowa's family, Duo's and Wufei's.  Someone wants us all.  Tell the others," she pleaded, "for I must stay here and remain invisible.  I'm sorry I cannot return to you, dear, but I have to stay.  Be safe."  The monitor went abruptly black.  

Duo released the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding.  A List.  The thought made him shiver, and he reached over to put an arm around Heero.  Heero's eyes were cast down to the ground as he thought.  

"Don't tell anyone," he instructed, still looking down.  "She sent the message to Sally, which means she trusts only family.  Wufei, call Quatre and Trowa at the mansion.  Tell them to come here, we're all safer here at the Academy together then spread throughout Earth and space."  He looked up, tears welling in his eyes as he reached his arms out.  Kaori rushed into his outstretched arms and curled in his fatherly embrace, the severity and sadness of the situation making her feel sick.  "Don't tell the children," he ordered.  

*   *   *   *   *   *  *

- Quatre R. Winner, Jr.

Catherine B. Winner

Quatre R. Winner

Kaori Yuy

- Jin Yuy

Heero Yuy

Trowa Barton

Duo Maxwell

Chang Wufei

Roddy Adelphia-Barton…

Jin stared down at the list in her hand.  Everyone's names were there.  All of Trowa's family, Duo's family, and Wufei's family completed the long hit-list that she held in her hand.  She hoped that Sally had received her message.  She hoped that Sally had gotten a hold of Heero.  She hoped that Heero knew what to do.  She hoped they could stop this assassin before the first objective of his mission can be completed.  

She closed her eyes, crushing the paper in her fist as she slid slowly down the metal wall of the shuttle she was in.  The assassin had come after her already, destroying the Preventor ship and killing most of the crew in an attempt to get her.  She'd narrowly escaped, fleeing through the colony that they'd been docked on and quickly getting lost in the crowds that walked down the streets.  Now she'd caught a shuttle, heading to a different colony in a different cluster.  

In fact, she didn't even know where she was going.  That in itself was a good thing.  Picking a random shuttle meant that she'd arrive in a random location, which would make her that much harder to find.  But she wanted to go home.  She wanted to help her family.  

No, she thought to herself, shaking her head vigorously.  No, if she wanted to help her family, then she'd have to stay out here and find out who made up this list.  She had to find out who wanted them all dead.  Taking a deep breath, she got up off the floor of the shuttle lavatory and stuffed the paper in her pocket.  

"Are you feeling better, dearie?" the elderly woman in the seat next to her asked as she returned to her window seat.  "You look like you might be sick."

"No," Jin answered, "I'm not sick.  Just tired.  I've been doing a lot of traveling lately."  Jin didn't like lying, but she was in a delicate situation and her identity must be concealed from everyone.  

"That's too bad," the woman empathized.  Jin was thankful that the woman didn't ask her any more questions.  The woman seemed content to let Jin close her eyes and "rest."  

But Jin was not resting.  Her mind worked endlessly, analyzing the names on the list.  Quatre Jr.'s name was first, with a mark in front of it.  That had to mean something special.  Her name, too, had a mark in front of it.  She could guess what that meant.  Of all the people on the list, she was the only one away from the others.  Perhaps her mark meant that she didn't have to be killed in the order listed on the paper.  Obviously, they had come for her first.  

What did Little Quatre's mark mean then?  He lived in the mansion with Quatre, Catherine, Trowa, Roddy, and Trowa's little girl Natalie.  The mark in front of his name must mean something different than the mark in front of her name.

Even the arrangement of the names was confusing.  With Quatre and Heero's family, first the child, then the wife, then the Gundam Pilot would be killed.  But with the others, the pilots would be killed right away, and their families' lives mopped up afterward.  Why was it important for Quatre's son and her daughter to be killed first?  What was special about them?  

She frowned as she thought.  The names on the List were in no easy order to decipher.  The significance of the marks was still a mystery.  All she knew was that someone wanted her friends and family dead.  She had the hit-list to prove it.  

*   *   *   *   *   *   *

Wufei called Quatre's mansion again from the communicator in his personal apartment.  Still no answer.  He was frustrated after the third call, and by this seventh call, he was absolutely a wreck.  Finally, he decided to just leave a message.  

"Quatre, Trowa, there's a problem," Wufei said to the recording communicator.  He was about to spill everything he knew over the unencrypted line before he suddenly remembered Jin's care to keep the List secret.  He had to be more secretive.  "I know you guys were planning on coming here next week to visit," he lied, "But things will be busy with the students next week.  Heero thought maybe you guys could leave today or tomorrow.  See you soon."  

"Good cover," Sally said from behind him.  She'd been watching her love as he desperately tried to get through to Quatre's mansion for the past fifteen minutes.  "So what's the real problem?" she asked as she kissed his neck in a warm greeting.  "I take it this has nothing to do with those files I asked you to get from my office?"

"No," Wufei said sadly, gathering Sally into his arms.  "Something's terribly wrong…"

______________

song from nine inch nails.  I know its kinda random but I was in an odd mood when I wrote this chap.  


	8. The Cat Family

All for you Ryoko-onee

Chapter Seven

Hayden had woken up to an empty room.  And an empty bed.  For some reason, Kaori had left his side sometime during the night, or that morning.  He'd gone to his own dorm room on the fifth floor, taken a shower, and gotten dressed like every other Sunday morning.  Luke hadn't been in the room when he arrived, but then again, it had been nearly 10:00 in the morning.  

By the time he'd made his way to the cafeteria, his other friends were there.  Except for Kaori.  Daniel, Mei, and Luke greeted him like they did every other day.  

"Where's Kaori?" Hayden asked, worried about her.  

"I dunno," Mei mumbled.  "I didn't sleep in the dorm room last night.  I slept in my parents' apartment.  She should be up by now, though."  Mei continued eating her bagel.

"So, what'd you do last night?" Daniel asked innocently.  

Hayden turned on him.  "What do you mean by that?"

"I mean…what did you end up doing after we left?  Man, I was just trying to get some conversation going.  Excuse me.  Didn't know that somebody woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning," Daniel huffed.  He took a drink of his orange juice.  

"You mean the right side of the wrong bed," Luke teased with a smirk.  Hayden's head snapped up and his eyes widened in surprise at his brother's remark.  "Oh, yes, Hade.  I know that you never came home last night."

Mei was just about to ask what was wrong when her attention was diverted to the three figures entering the cafeteria.  The grim air about them stilled conversations of leisurely munching students.  Kaori walked in the middle between her father and Duo Maxwell, holding her father's hand as they walked.  She looked rough.  Her hair was still pulled into its normal ponytail, but she was wearing the same jeans she'd worn yesterday and an old sweatshirt.  It looked as if she'd just been woken up and dragged out of bed.  Halfway through the cafeteria and towards their table, Mei saw their strides hitch a little as Heero and Duo came to a stop, pulling Kaori to a stop as well.  Heero put an arm on her shoulder and whispered something into her ear.  Kaori's head nodded in affirmation.  Both Col. Yuy and Colonel Maxwell smiled at the table of friends and turned, leaving the cafeteria.

Kaori walked slowly to them.  Hayden watched each placement of her foot, one landing directly in front of the other.  Her steps made a straight line across the floor, and made her hips sway slightly with each stride.  As she got closer, he got nervous.  He didn't know what to do.  Should he just say good morning to her and pretend like…nothing happened last night?  Did she want him to kiss her hello?  Did she want to be in a relationship or what that just a one night thing?

She answered his questions for him, bending down to kiss him lightly on the mouth before sliding in a seat next to him.  He sighed in relief, slipping a hand into hers under the table.  

"So what's going on?" Luke asked, leaning forward and raising his eyebrows.  

"Going on where?" Kaori asked.  She hoped he wasn't going to ask what she'd been doing with her father and Col. Maxwell…she'd have to tell him the truth…

"Between you two, silly," he said with a Duo-smile spread across his face.  "So, am I correct in assuming you're an item now?"    

Hayden stiffened a little.  How was Kaori going to answer this?  He wanted her to say yes…

"Yea," Kaori said lazily.  She leaned over and put her head on Hayden's shoulder, looking up at him in the process.  "I don't feel well," she told him in a weak voice.

Mei was on alert.  Kaori was never weak.  Not unless her heart hurt.  The realization that something was terribly wrong overshadowed her momentary glee for Kaori's new relationship.  She didn't get sick over little things.  The last time Kaori acted like this was when their parents found out Luke and Hayden's mother died.  Mei sent a silent prayer to anyone who'd listen, hoping that all their families were safe.

*   *   *   *   *   *   *

"Anybody heard from the Cat family?" Duo asked after Wufei entered his office during lunch Monday.  To his disappointment, Wufei shook his head no.  If Quatre and Trowa had gotten his message quickly and interpreted it correctly, then they would have arrived at the Preventor Academy sometime this morning.  With each passing minute, the hopes of their safe escape from L4 waned.  

Something caught Sally's attention.  "Cat family?"

"Yea," Duo said with his mischievous grin.  "The Cat family.  Quat, short for Quatre; Cat, a nickname for Catherine; and Little Quat, Quatre Junior's nickname."  Duo smiled widely now, proud of the little tease he'd put on Quatre's family.

"I bet he hates that," Sally said.

"Of course," Duo laughed.  "That's why I insist on calling them that.  I first noticed when he and Catherine got married.  I'll bet if they ever had a girl, her name would have been Quatrina or something."

Heero and Wufei laughed in spite of themselves.  Duo certainly had a way of lightening the mood.  The two more serious pilots had missed his entertaining antics over the years.  It was good to have him back around again.  Especially in a tense situation like this.

"How are the kids, Heero?" Duo asked.

Heero thought back to the class he taught this morning.  Mei and Luke carried on like normal.  Hayden seemed overly concerned for Kaori, but that was somewhat normal considering Kaori still felt a little sick, despite the fact that she slept most of Sunday away.  "They seem normal," he answered.  "Kaori still doesn't feel well, but that's expected.  And she's doing a pretty good job hiding it from the others.  Thank goodness they haven't asked her what's wrong yet."  

Duo nodded.  "Yea, like you, she's horrible at telling lies."

"What's that mean?" Heero said, more defensive that Duo was insulting his daughter than insulting himself.  

"No insult, buddy," Duo said with a goofy smile.  "I'm just saying that you two answer questions truthfully.  You don't like telling lies if you can help it.  Hell, Heero, during the Mariemaia fiasco, you even had me punch you in the face before you knocked the wind out of me – just to keep it fair!"

"Quit making fun of him, Maxwell," Wufei said, pushing the braided man.  "You have to go and teach class now.  And act natural around the kids, 'cause I have to teach them after you," he instructed.

"Yessir!"

*   *   *   *   *   *   *

Wufei's class came to order.  The Chinese instructor announced that today, they would resume with the analysis he'd conducted on the first day.  Only this time, each student in the class was required to pair off and spar with every other student in the class, instead of sparring with him.  This was to be their last set of activities before the end of the semester.  

"But sir," Daniel asked, unable to restrain himself, "We're still nine weeks from the end of the semester.  What you're suggesting won't take that long, will it?"

"It will," Wufei answered.  "Because only two matches will take place at one time.  Two students will be selected each day to spar with each and every other student in the class.  I want everyone to pay attention to the two matches at the front.  You'll learn from watching each other, as well as hone your own skills against many different types of opponents."  

Wufei watched the expressions of the class.  Some faces gleamed as they perceived the upcoming challenge.  Others looked a little scared at having to fight with everyone else in the class.  He knew that his original martial arts training would have looked down upon this technique of "teaching students with students."  His own training emphasized the importance of using a particular master's style of fighting and honoring his masters by utilizing their style and recognizing the styles of others.  But such formality and style was not needed when all dispatching an enemy was all that mattered.  

His duels with Heero reminded him of that constantly.  He'd never beaten Heero in a sparring match.  Not that Heero was too much stronger than him or more trained, he had to remind himself.  But Heero had no qualms about mixing his own martial arts training with the vulgar version of combat simply called street fighting that he'd learned while wrestling with Duo.  Heero's mix of street fighting and more elegant martial arts made him a far more difficult opponent than someone who just knew one or two styles of fighting.  

Allowing the students to fight each other was a perfect way of introducing them all to variations in fighting technique.  No one fought in the same way, so fighting everyone in the class exposed a student to as many different types of combat as possible.  

Wufei explained a bit more, seeing the confusion creep into the faces of his students.  He told how two students would position in the front right and front left of the gym.  All other students would take turns in matches against them.

Partway through the second part of Wufei's explanation, two children ran into the gym, skirting around the group of sitting students and heading directly for Wufei.  He smiled and got down on one knee, ready for the tackles he was about to receive.  

"Uncle Wu!" they shouted as they wrapped their small arms around him.  

"Hello there, little ones," Wufei said to them, embracing them warmly and patting them on their heads.  "I see you arrived a little early."

Both small heads nodded vigorously.  

Wufei looked out over his students and spotted his own daughter and Kaori sitting next to the Maxwell boys.  He turned the two children around and pointed at them.  "Go and see your big cousins for a moment," he instructed.  "Your Uncle Wu still has a class to teach."

The two children kissed him on the cheek and went to their cousins.  Both of them collapsed into Kaori's lap, looking up at her with beaming eyes.  

"Hello Natalie," she said, wrapping an arm around the little girl with chocolate hair and striking green eyes.  "And hello little Quatre," she said to the boy who looked exactly like his father.  

"Hello Cousin Kaori," they said in unison.  

"Shh…" she hushed them, leaning close as if it were a secret.  "Uncle Wu is trying to be serious."  

They giggled, then waved hello to Mei.  Mei waved back heartily and put a finger to her lips, warning the visiting children to be quiet too.  

Wufei was finished with his explanation.  He went over the order he'd put the students into.  His mental list told him that he'd picked Kaori and Mei as the first two challengers.  But with Trowa and Quatre's kids visiting, it might not be a good idea for him to leave the two children alone.  So he scrolled down the list in his mind and sought out the next two.  

"Maxwells!" he called out.  "You're up first!"

Hayden sighed and Luke mumbled something foul as they stood up and made their way to the front of the gym.  The rest of the students moved from their clustered seating positions and formed a circle around each brother.  A random volunteer from each circle stepped forward to challenge Hayden.  Another volunteer from his own circle stepped up to challenge Luke.  His volunteer just happened to be Mei, and she smiled wickedly at him as she settled into a fighting stance.

Kaori stood up, holding the hands of each of the children, and took her leave of the gym.  

*   *   *   *   *   *   *

Trowa had an arm around both Roddy and Catherine as Quatre paced back and forth in Duo's office, telling Heero and Duo about their near escape from the mansion.

"All I know is that we were packing to go to France in order to attend my annual business conference.  Like we do every year," he added, running a hand through his shaggy blonde locks.  "All of a sudden, I hear shots ringing.  I threw myself on Catherine, because she was close by.  And I yelled for Quatre Junior to stay where he was.  I knew that he'd be running into our room any minute to check and see if we were all right.  The shots came in through the window, and made holes in the wall by the door.  Three shots."  He shook his head, not believing that someone would try an assassination attempt in his own home.  

"That's when I came," Trowa said, speaking for the first time since their hasty arrival.  "I had just checked the message you left when I heard the shots.  I yelled at Roddy to get the kids and rushed off to find Quatre and Catherine.  They were behind the bed and out of range of the window, but I had to be careful not to expose myself by walking through the door."

"So he just told us to grab a suitcase to use as cover.  We'd take what had already been packed in the limo and bolt for the shuttle port.  Since we were planning on leaving L4 anyway, it wouldn't look like fleeing to anyone but us and the assassin.  And Trowa said you already knew…" Quatre stopped pacing and looked up at Heero.  

Heero nodded slowly.  "Jin called yesterday morning.  They'd recovered a hit list.  All our names are on it, including our families.  And no one but those on the list will know what's going on…"


	9. Arming Kaori

We've had an inch and a half of sleet and hail here, so class was cancelled today.  Perfect time to sit at home and write some fanfics, ne?  Just hope that the weather continues to suck for another day so I can write some more tomorrow.

Chapter Eight

"And since Daddy can't play sports very well," little eight-year-old Quatre continued, "Uncle Tro has been teaching me how to play football!  He says I'm great at it!"

"That's good," Kaori said with an enthusiastic smile, holding Quatre Jr.'s hand on one side and Trowa's daughter Natalie in the other.  She was making her way to her father's office, trying to find him to ask what should be done about the two munchkins.  "Is Uncle Trowa teaching you American football or soccer?" she asked, knowing that the rest of the universe referred to soccer as football most of the time, while only Americans had their own personal version of football.

The quizzical look on the blonde boy's face only made her smile more.  "We use a black and white ball," he said, hoping that answered her question.  

"That's soccer then," she informed him.  "Americans have another game they play that's also called football.  But it's very different."  Quatre nodded his head, understanding.  "You should talk to your Uncle Duo's boys," she said.  "They both play soccer."

"Do they really?" Quatre asked, his voice getting louder with his excitement.  "Do you think they would play with me?"  

"Of course," Kaori answered with a calm smile.  

"Uncle Duo?" the girl on her left side asked.  

Kaori turned her attention from one child to the older child.  "That's right," she said.  "He's come to live with us now.  He had two boys, and they're about Mei's age."

Natalie nodded thoughtfully.  "Is that why we came here in a hurry?  To see Uncle Duo?"  

Kaori stopped walking and looked down at the kids in front of her.  Her face was serious, and the smart children picked up on the change in atmosphere immediately, understanding that she was about to say something important.  That's what they liked about her.  Uncle Heero, Aunt Jin, and Kaori had lived with Natalie for years at the Academy.  And at least twice a year, they all visited Quatre's mansion on L4.  And twice a year Quatre's family visited them at the Academy during the end of semester dinners and balls.  The two kids had decided Kaori was their favorite of all the aunts, uncles, and cousins because she seemed nice inside.  And she always treated them like adults.  They knew she wouldn't lie to them, like some other adults would.  She wouldn't make up a story to "protect their little innocent minds" like some silly adults who sometimes thought they were too young would.  They liked her because she treated them just like they wanted to be treated, and she always had.

"Listen," she instructed, needlessly for the children already gave her 100% of their attention.  "Something bad is happening.  Our daddies might be in danger.  They all came here together to find out what to do about it."  After seeing little Quatre's face distort in fear, she added, "There's nothing to be afraid of.  We're safe inside the Academy, and there're lots of people here to protect you and our daddies.  Ok?"

The children nodded in unison.

"But just to be careful," she added, "You two shouldn't go walking through the halls without one of us with you.  Make sure you aren't by yourself, ok?"

Little heads nodded again.

"Good," Kaori said with a smile.  She started walking again, and passed her father's office once she saw the light was off inside.  They might be in Duo's office.  "Do you play on a team, Little Quat?" she asked, changing the subject back to sports.

"Not yet," he said with a stunning Winner smile.  "But next year I'll be old enough to!"

Kaori walked into Duo's office in time to hear her father say, "And no one but those on the list will know what's going on.  This is strictly confidential, understand?"

The group nodded slowly.  

Kaori nodded too.  

"Hey kiddos!" Catherine said with a smile, despite the heavy atmosphere.

"Hi Mommy," Quatre said, running to give her a hug.  "Is Daddy safe?"  He clutched onto his father's waist and buried his head in Quatre Sr.'s stomach.  

Heero glared at Kaori.  "What did you tell them?"

"They asked," she replied, knowing that her father knew she couldn't _not_ answer a question.  "So I told them that there is possible danger.  But we're safest in the Academy, and we're all going to find a way to stay safe."

Heero's features softened, and he put an arm around Kaori's shoulders.  "Sorry," he whispered to her, apologizing for being curt earlier.  

"I think this one's had it," Quatre announced, looking down at his son.  Quatre Jr. had fallen asleep, still holding onto his father's waist.  

"Oh, poor dear," Cathy cooed, smoothing her son's hair.  "I think all this leaving suddenly and then running around the Academy, and now this information that we're in danger…it was all too much for the little guy."  

Kaori stepped forward.  "Where are you staying?" she asked, cradling the sleeping Winner into her arms like a baby.  

"My place," Duo answered.  "Trowa and Roddy are staying with your father.  You know the access code to the door, right?"

Kaori nodded before turning to head out the door.  "You know where I'll be," she announced.  Pressure on her back caused her to turn her head, seeing her father.

"Here," Heero said, sliding his own gun into the back of Kaori's belt.  "Be careful."

She smiled at him warmly.  "Come on, Natalie," she called.  "You could probably use a nap too.  I know I need one," she added when it looked like Natalie was about to deny needing a rest.  The ten-year-old girl kissed her daddy on the cheek before following Kaori out the door.

Kaori never thought that the metal butt of a gun poking into the small of her back as she walked would give her as much comfort as it did now.  Making her way down the sixth-floor hallway, she found morbid reassurance in knowing the weapon was tucked into the waist of her pants.  She opened the door to Duo's apartments and walked into the spare bedroom.  The bedroom was "spare" since Hayden and Luke moved out into the dorm room on level five.  

She wasn't aware of her humming until a sleepy eyed Little Quat asked her what song she was singing.  Kaori looked surprised for a moment as she laid him on the bed, sitting beside him and tucking him in, in a very motherly fashion.  Natalie crawled over the bottom edge of the bed and settled in next to Little Quat, pulling the covers up over her.  Both sets of eyes watched Kaori as she sang softly, "Trust in my self-righteous suicide – I cry when angels deserve to die…"  The words came out barely above a whisper, sounding more like her humming voice than actual words.  

"What does that mean?" Natalie asked, her eyes already closed to surrender to sleep.

"What does it mean?" Quatre repeated.

Running her hand softly over his face, Kaori got Little Quat to close his eyes.  "It means I'll gladly give my life in order to save you from being hurt," she said, changing the meaning of the song.  "So rest peacefully, little ones."  

She closed the bedroom door softly behind her and plopped heavily down onto the couch in the den.  Wincing at the unforgiving metal poking into her back, Kaori reached behind her and pulled out the gun.  Her father's gun.  She set it carefully on her knee, resting her right hand on the butt of the pistol, in case she needed it.  Without knowing it, her tired body submitted to slumber.

*   *   *   *   *   *   *

Wufei joined the group in Duo's office after his class was over.  

"What's going on?" he asked, wanting information on anything and everything.  

"We're on a hit list," Heero growled, mad at their current predicament.  

Wufei rolled his eyes and centered his attention on someone else besides the angry Japanese man.  Quatre looked downcast.  Duo had an arm around Quatre's shoulders and Trowa stood protectively on the other side of Heero.  "What happened?" he asked.

Trowa looked up, his green eyes clouded in anger.  "We analyzed the sequence and significance of the names on the list," he started.  "Quatre Jr., Cathy, Quatre, Kaori, Jin, Heero, then the rest of us."  

Wufei nodded, acknowledging that he to knew the order of the names.  

 "All this leads to one conclusion."  Trowa paused his speech for a moment to steal a glance at Heero.  "Some one wants Heero and Quatre both to suffer before they die."

His breath caught in his chest.  Wufei had expected this all the time, once he had gone over the list in his head.  But hearing it out loud made it real.  Someone was going to kill Quatre and Heero's families before letting them out of their misery.  Someone wanted them to feel that kind of pain first.

"So, what are we going to do?" Wufei asked.

Heads of pilots and wives shook silently.  No one knew what to do.  

"Kaori's armed and staying with the kids," Heero offered, hoping that'd make some of them feel better.  "And we'll be armed.  We'll watch each other's backs, just like always."

"There's just more at stake this time," Trowa said softly.  "Speaking of armed, where can we get weapons, Wufei?"

"Upstairs," he said simply, leading the way out of Duo's office and toward the elevators.

*   *   *   *   *   *   *

Luke opened his father's door, staring down the business end of a pistol.

"Shit, Luke," Kaori breathed.  She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and put the safety back on.  Easing back into the couch, Kaori closed her eyes.

"What the hell is going on?" Luke asked, sitting down next to her.  His eyes radiated concern.  Kaori could feel it acutely in her heart.  

"Don't ask me that, please," she begged of him.  "I am not supposed to tell."

"Do our fathers know?" he asked, probing for more information.

She nodded, opening her eyes to look at him.  

Luke stared at her for a moment.  Her eyes always seemed more blue, like her father's, when she was sad.  And they seemed that way now.  He put a big arm around her shoulders and eyed the gun still setting on her knee.  "Whose gun is that?"

"Dad's."

"Are they going to give us some?" Luke asked, referring to the rest of the Gundam children.  

"I don't know.  You have limited experience with firearms, but they might feel safer if you had a means to protect yourself.  I don't know what they'll decide."  She sighed and eased into his side, cuddling in his comfort and warmth.  "Right now I'm the only one of us who knows what's going on.  And I have a feeling that protecting the kids will be my top priority."

"The kids that came into the gym today?"

"You sure do have a lot of questions there, little man," Kaori said with a smile.  She knew the towering giant scoffed at that nickname.  Luke poked her in the ribs playfully with his free hand, and she squirmed at his touch.  "Yea, the kids that came in the gym.  Uncles Quatre and Trowa are here too.  The whole family in one place."

"Except for your mom," Luke reminded her.

Kaori's heart got a little heavier when he said that.  She'd been missing her mother all day.  And all day yesterday.  Finally, she was getting over the sickness she'd felt when first hearing about the List and her mother's disappearance after the remains of her ship were discovered.  She didn't want to be reminded of it all now.

"Sorry," Luke said with a little squeeze.  

Kaori smiled weakly at him.  Apology accepted.  

"You hungry?" the big guy said, getting up from the couch and holding out a hand to her.  "Class was over a while ago and I'm sure that we'll meet Mei, Daniel, and Hade in the cafeteria.  It's already almost 18:00."  Kaori took his hand while stuffing the gun back into her belt, and he practically threw her up into the air.  She laughed for what seemed like the first time in three days, since she and Hade had…well, he wasn't going to assume he knew anything about what she and his brother had or had not done Saturday night.  But he did feel sorry for them both.  They should be basking in their newly found affections, rather than Hade taking care of Kaori while she was sick over something so secretive that she couldn't tell them what it was.  And now she was a personal bodyguard to two little kids.  Even more to keep her and Hade apart.  

"Let me wake them up.  If it's dinnertime, like you say, then we've been sleeping up here for the past couple hours," Kaori said, walking back to his old bedroom.

Natalie was awake when she walked in, calmly looking around the room to amuse herself.  When she noticed Kaori in the room, the little girl smiled and rolled over, pushing on Little Quat to wake him up.  Quatre Jr. moaned and rolled over the opposite direction from Natalie, coming close to falling out of bed before his aquamarine eyes opened and he smiled at Kaori.

"It's time for dinner, you two," she said softly.  Luke had never heard her sound more motherly.  

Green eyes opened wide.  "Who's that?" Natalie asked, staring at the big man leaning in the doorway.  

"That's Luke Maxwell," Kaori answered.  "He's Uncle Duo's son.  Do you remember me telling you about him?"

"You play football!" Little Quat beamed as he jumped out of bed with fresh energy and rushed to the new figure.  "Will you play with me?"  

"Play football?" Luke said, getting down on one knee to look the kid in the eye.  "Aren't you a little small for that game?"  Quatre Jr. looked insulted.  

"He means soccer," Kaori informed him, using her fingers to brush out Natalie's bed-mussed hair.  Kaori pulled it back and braided the fine hair to keep it from getting in Nat's way so much.  

"Oh, soccer.  Yea, I'll play some soccer with you.  We have a big field out by the lake that's just perfect for a game of soccer."  Luke smiled at the energetic Quatre spawn.  

"Mommy doesn't like my hair pulled back," Natalie said softly, sounding more like her stoic father than her opinionated mother.  

"Well, Mommy's not here right now, is she?" Kaori said with a wink.  Natalie giggled.  Kaori finished braiding her hair and fastened the ends with one of the many abundant elastic ties that seemed to spontaneously reproduce wherever Hayden happened to live.  "Natalie," she said, getting the girl's attention.  "This is Luke.  Luke, this is Natalie Barton.  And that little blonde replicate is Quatre Jr., otherwise known at Little Quat."

Luke remained on his one knee as he held his hand out and shook each tiny hand in his own.  "I met them at Mom's funeral," he informed Kaori, since she hadn't been there to know.  "But I'm not sure if they remember me."

"Of course _I_ remember you," Natalie said proudly as Luke stood up.  "I remember you because you're almost as tall as Daddy."  She stuck her tongue out at Little Quat as she walked past him and out of the bedroom.

"Oh yea!" the blonde yelled as he scurried after her.  "Well, I can play the flute better than you can play the violin!"

Kaori rolled her eyes as she reluctantly followed the children into the den.  She may be regaining her strength after getting sick this weekend, but these kids were surely going to drain her energy all over again.  She smiled in spite of the foreboding exhaustion.  At least it'd be a good way to go, she thought as Little Quat grinned brightly at her and held her hand.


	10. Football

Chapter Nine

Mei watched with a smile on her face as Kaori and Luke came into the cafeteria, swinging Little Quat by his hands between them and Natalie holding Kaori's other hand.  As much as Kaori seemed like a tough old witch, she was soft inside.  Though people their own age hardly notice, her natural inner kindness never escaped the attention of little children, no matter how gruff she seemed on the outside.  Kaori smiled as she and Luke swung the little blonde back and forth again.

It was good to see Kaori smile again.  Mei couldn't help but feel relieved.  Kaori had been very upset the last couple of days, and no one knew why.  It was good to see her feeling more normal with the kids around.

"Hey you two!" Mei said with a smile.  She couldn't quite decide if she was referring to Luke and Kaori or the two visiting kids.  Oh well, she meant both.  

"Mei!" Natalie shrieked as she sprinted the last few feet to throw her arms around Mei's neck in a hug.  Quatre Jr. soon left his swinging to join in the hug.  One child could not get any amount of attention without the other trying to weasel into the action.  

"Come and eat lunch with us," Mei said as she patted the empty bench next to her.  Both children immediately filed into place at the table.  

Luke and Kaori passed the table, walking into the kitchen room to pick up their trays of food, and most likely grabbing an extra tray for the kids.  Mei pretended not to notice the metal glint of a gun showing briefly between the waist of Kaori's pants and the hem of her short jacket as she walked away.  Maybe no one else noticed.

"This is Hayden Maxwell, Uncle Duo's son," Mei said, pointing out the boy who looked suspiciously similar to Luke.  "And this over here is Daniel, he's in class with us."  The kids nodded simultaneously as Mei introduced the strange guys at the table.  "These two munchkins are Natalie and Quatre Jr., but we call him Little Quat – much to the disapproval of his father."

"You play football?" Little Quat asked both older boys.  

"Sure we can play football," Hayden answered.  "Do you play?"

"Uncle Trowa's showing me."  

Natalie interrupted, "He means soccer, not football.  Kaori has already told him that its called soccer, but he says it wrong."

"I do not," Little Quat insisted.

"It's called different things in different places," Hayden said, wanting to avoid the upcoming fight.  "But I can play soccer too.  There's a field by the lake that's good for practicing soccer."

"Luke said that," Natalie informed him.  "He said he'd play with Quatre later."

"Well," Hayden said to the little blonde, noticing that the kid looked a little upset that Natalie was talking for him.  "I'll play with you after dinner if you want.  We can pull a few people together and make it a game."

"Really?"  Quatre's eyes lit up at the prospect.  

"Sure we can.  We might even be able to convince the girls to play," he said with a smirk toward Mei and the approaching Kaori.  

"What's this about girls?" Kaori asked as she set an extra tray down in front of Natalie.  Luke gave an extra tray to Quatre before sitting down on the other side of the two kids, fencing them in between himself and Mei on the bench.  

"I told Quatre Jr. here that I'd play soccer with him after dinner.  And if we play our cards right, we might be able to get you and Mei to play," Hayden recapped for her, putting an arm around her waist as she sat next to him and across the table from the kids.  

"Mei, yes."  Kaori said with a teasing smile.  "But I don't do team sports.  Get dads to play."

"Good idea," Luke agreed.  "We could get all the old men to play."

*   *   *   *   *   *   *

"Never did I think that we'd be sitting here, on a blanket in the grass, watching our husbands practically kill themselves playing football with the kids," Roddy said, laughing as she sipped her lemonade.  "Its like nothing's wrong at all."

Catherine was stretched out lying on her stomach next to Roddy, watching as Quatre attempted to keep up with the game.  He never was very good at sports.  "Right now," she said, "Nothing is wrong.  The only reminder of the List is the impressive show of weaponry."  She looked around disapprovingly at the gun in front of her on the blanket – Quatre's gun.  Roddy had her own pistol and Trowa insisted on keeping his close, storing it in the waist of his pants similarly to Heero and Kaori.  Even the "all I need are my fists" Wufei Chang kept a gun in an under-the-shoulder holster, concealed by the jacket he wore as he ran back and forth across the field.  Duo had handed his gun to Kaori on Sally's blanket, not wanting anything to get in the way of his game playing.  

Too bad, Cathy thought.  His temporary disposal of the weapon did nothing to improve their game.  And right now the old men could use as much help as they could get.  Being around forty years old, they were just not up to par against a bunch of kids around 17 and 18 years old.  Even the little Natalie and Quatre Jr. were contributing to the embarrassing display taking place on the grass in front of her.  Well, it wasn't too embarrassing, she had to remind herself.  The old men were just a few goals behind.  

"Boy are they going to complain about this," Sally said with a sigh.  "They're going to be so sore tomorrow."

Roddy laughed.  "Yea, as much as they like to boast about being in shape, there's just nothing they can do when put up against a bunch of energetic kids."  

"Fly Gundams, check.  Thwart multiple assassination attempts against the Vice Foreign Minister, check.  Save the world, no problem.  Win in a game of soccer against their kids…I believe our men have met their match," Cathy laughed.

Daniel trotted over to the blankets.  The sweat of his previous soccer efforts made his blonde bangs stick to his forehead and his shirt plaster to his well-muscled chest as he jogged.  "You sure you don't want to play?" he asked as he kneeled next to Kaori and Sally.  

"Very much so," Kaori replied, handing him her glass of lemonade.  He drank a few gulps and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.  "Besides, the old men are out numbered as it is with you, Luke, Mei, Hayden and the munchkins out there."

"Hey," he said, a little out of breath from the game and his gulping of lemonade.  "Two munchkins make one full person – so it's an even five on five."  Daniel smiled and returned to the game.  In his absence, Trowa had been able to maneuver and make another goal.  

"Oh yea," Cathy said.  "They are so going to regret this tomorrow."

Sally turned her attention to Kaori.  "I'll never get over you kids sharing like that."

"What do you mean?" Kaori asked, not taking her eyes from the game in front of her.  Ok, she'd admit it.  She could care less about the game.  She was watching Hayden's delicious form as he ran back and forth across the field, his naked torso tensing and his braid swinging behind him as he jogged.  

"The way you kids just drink from each other's glasses all the time and share food.  It's completely disgusting, from both a motherly and a medical point of view," Sally said with a smile.  She wasn't really scolding Kaori, just making conversation.  

"Generation Gap," Kaori said simply, not giving a second thought as she drank out of the same glass Daniel had used.  

"Must be…" Sally admitted, leaning back to support her weight on her hands.

"So Kaori," Cathy got her attention, always up for some good gossip.  Kaori could tell by the way she was talking that Aunt Cathy had a little observation she wanted to background check.  "What's Daniel like?"

Kaori rolled her eyes and rolled over onto her back, looking up into the Earth sky as the darkness of twilight began to make the light fade.  She winced at the metal poking in her back.  Damn gun.  She'd have to get used to that thing being there, Kaori thought as she pulled it out and set it casually on her stomach.  "Daniel's "like" a friend, that's all," Kaori said with a smile.  

"Really?" Roddy asked, just as eager as Cathy for some gossip.  The woman was a great Preventor, an excellent instructor, and a hopeless romantic.  It made her perfect for Trowa's subtle version of romance, but made her ache for something more blunt.  "So who isn't "like a friend"?" she asked, using Kaori's words against her.

She debated for a while.  Should she let her aunts know about her longing for the braided Maxwell?  Kaori leaned her head back, watching the game upside down.  Well, her longing for the braided Maxwell _son_, she clarified in her mind as Duo tackled Hayden in an attempt to halt his progression up the field.  They were a heap of bodies and braids as they struggled to get up.  She was pretty sure that tackling wasn't allowed in soccer…

"Kaori?" Cathy asked, calling her back to reality.  

"Yea," she breathed, a content smile spreading across her face.  

All the lounging women perked up.  "Who?" Aunt Cathy asked.

"Those Americans and their braids," Kaori answered, knowing it was an unambiguous answer.  

Roddy came to the right conclusion first, or at least she voiced it first.  "You mean Hades, dear?"

"Yes ma'am.  Hayden."

*   *   *   *   *   *   *

"This sucks," Duo complained, rubbing his aching shoulders and glaring at the couch.  

"You brought this on yourself, buddy," Heero reminded him, stretching his neck.  They weren't as young as they used to be, he admitted to himself.  He'd be damned before he'd admit that out loud, though.  "You could have shared a bed with me, but no…you would rather sleep on the couch in your own home…"

"Look, Heero," Duo interrupted.  "Sharing a bed with you doesn't seem like fun and happy time, ok?  Forgive me if I didn't dance with joy at the first mention of it."  Duo pulled the extra blankets from his closet and tossed them on his couch, soon to be his bed.  

"Either we share a bed together or get the couch.  That's all there is to it," Heero stated as he made his way to Duo's door, intending to go to his own apartment and sleep on his own couch.  "We used to share a bed," he mumbled as he left.

"That's when Jin was in between us and TWENTY YEARS AGO!" Duo screamed at the shutting door.  Whether or not Heero answered, he couldn't tell.  He was already out the door and out of Duo's hearing range.  

"Duo, I feel terrible about stealing your bed," Catherine said from behind him.

"Oh, all that yelling?" Duo said with a sheepish grin.  "Don't pay any attention to that.  Just yelling at Heero, nothing new."  Catherine didn't look too convinced.  "Look, sweetie," he said, giving her a little hug, "it's fine.  You and Quat take my bed.  Let mini-Quat take the extra bed.  I'll be fine here on the couch."

"Are you sure?" Cathy asked again, doubting it was fine.  "You could have Junior stay out here on the couch and sleep in your own bed tonight.  Or at least share a bed with the boy."

"No," Duo insisted.  "You and Quatre, and Little Quat are my guests, and you _will_ sleep well in my house.  Besides, things work out better this way."  He pointed to the door.  "If anyone tries to get in, they have to contend with me first.  And I'm not a happy guy when someone wakes me up in the middle of the night."  Cathy laughed at Duo's little joke.  Duo did a mental dance of victory.  

"If you're sure, then I guess I'll see you in the morning."  She gave him a kiss on the cheek.  

"Goodnight, Cathy."  Duo started making his couch into a bed, tucking his blanket into certain crevices so that the lumpy couch somewhat resembled a comfortable place to sleep.  Cathy walked back through the den.  "Check on Little Quat?" Duo asked, settling down into the blankets and pulling them up to his shoulders.  

"MmHmm," she acknowledged.  "He's still too excited about winning the soccer game to sleep."  Cathy giggled a little as she opened the master bedroom door.  

"And I take it Quatre Senior is feeling more like Quatre Senior Citizen tonight, huh?" Duo asked, smiling in the darkness after Cathy turned off the overhead light.  

"He was so tired he fell asleep in the shower!" Cathy giggled some more.  "I had to drag him out and wake him up to get clothes on the poor guy.  I think he's still laying where he flopped on the bed a couple of hours ago."  She closed the door to the bedroom.  

Duo could hear the muffled voices behind the closed door.  Catherine was no doubt trying to wake up Quatre and get him to move so she could get in bed too.  His hand reached up to wipe his face as he rolled over on the couch.  He was surprised when he felt wetness on his cheek.  Thinking he was bleeding, he held his hand close to see it.  Too dark to see.  His tongue flicked out to taste his finger.  Salty.  Tears.  Duo sighed and settled back into the lumpy bedding.  He hadn't realized he'd been missing Hilde, but Cathy's little giggles, her motherly presence when she took care of both Quatre Junior and Senior…it made him remember Hilde.  It made him wish that they'd settled on the other sleeping arrangement.  Duo could be sleeping in the same bed as Heero with the two kids sharing the other bed, rather than he and Heero on couches after surrendering their beds to the little tikes.  Maybe tomorrow he'd suggest that they change the sleeping arrangement.  He needed a warm body next to him.

*   *   *   *   *   *   *

"Our dads still have some spunk, huh Kaori?" Mei asked, rubbing her hair with a towel to dry it after her shower.  

"A little," Kaori admitted, running her hand through her own damp hair.  "They'll be complaining about it tomorrow though."

"But never out loud!  They couldn't ever admit to us kids that they're sore and hurting!" Mei said with a smile.  

"The weakness!" Kaori said, mocking Mei's dad as best she could.  

Mei burst into laughter.  After she regained her breath, Mei settled down on her desk chair and started brushing out her hair.  "I tell you about weakness though," she said, getting Kaori's attention, "those Maxwell boys without their shirts on…"

"Tell me about it," Kaori sighed, lying back onto her bed.  She absently fiddled with the string of her pajama pants.  "With my dad there, I tried not to stare too much.  I think Hayden strutted around like that just to tease me."

"Your dad?  I imagine how mad _my_ dad would react if I stared too long at Luke.  I'd hear nothing but "Dishonor" for three weeks!" Mei said, starting another fit of laughter.

A soft, timid knock on the door made Mei get up to her feet and open the door.  

"Oh," she said, staring dumbly at the figure for a moment before she smiled.  

Kaori was still lying on her back, staring up at the bottom of Mei's bed above her.  She hadn't looked over to see who was at the door.  "Who was that Mei?" Kaori asked after the door closed softly again.  

No answer.

"Mei?" Kaori asked again, about to tear her eyes away from the intriguing bottom of the bed, when she felt pressure on the mattress next to her.  Then she recognized the feeling.  "How did I know it was you?" she asked.

Hayden leaned forward and brushed some bangs from her face.  "Because you can feel me.  Up here," he said, placing his hand on her forehead.  

Kaori shook her head.  "No."  She took his hand and placed it over her heart.  "I feel you here."

_____

aw, sweet!  Couldn't help myself.


	11. Elevator Blood

Woo hoo!  Another snow day, so here's three more chaps.  :)  watch out, it gets a little crazy.  Keep in mind that Kaori's bipolar.

Chapter Ten

Kaori woke early in the morning, aware of the pressure against her back.  Hayden, her mind registered.  Somehow they'd ended up so that their backs were pressed together as they curled facing opposite directions.  Strange, she thought.  Making sure she didn't disturb him, she crawled out of bed and put her pajamas back on.  She tied the string of the pants.  That should keep them on now, she thought.  Kaori looked back at the sleeping face of Hayden.  Maybe she wasn't in such a hurry to keep her pants on, she decided, untying the strings and letting the little bit of elastic keep her baggy pajama pants from falling off her hips.  

Reaching up and stretching, Kaori then smoothed her hair back into her usual ponytail.  Her back hurt.  Twin-sized beds just weren't meant to have two people sleeping in them.  She wondered briefly if Mei was able to stay in Hayden's bed last night, or did she give in to the Maxwell charm and slip into Luke's?  She looked back at Hayden.  The early morning light caught on the wisps of hair that fanned around his face, giving him the look of an angel.  They'd definitely have to do this trading roommates thing more often.

She splashed a little bit of water on her face to freshen up and grabbed her gun off the bedside table before she left the room.  Not caring about her pajamas or her bare feet, Kaori padded down the still hallway of the dorm and made her way to the gym.  Sometimes she just needed a good workout early in the morning before anyone got up.  There was sure to be no one else in the gym at this hour.

She was not alone.

The longer she looked at the girl in front of her, the more rapidly her good mood faded.

Kaori glared at the girl in the gym.  She hated her.  And Kaori did not use the word "hate" lightly.  In fact, she had never used that word to describe anyone in her life.  Except for the girl standing in front of her.

Her anger boiled inside her chest as she stared at her.  Her jaw hurt.  But she wasn't thinking clearly enough to realize the clenching of her teeth caused that.  She felt a fever rise in her face and chest.  Her rage grew harder and harder to control.

Suddenly, she was thankful that she was alone with her in the gym.  It was too early in the morning for anyone else to be awake.  None of the students had woken for breakfast.  Kaori's eyes narrowed as she stared at her.  Her brow ached with the frowning snarl that contorted across her face.  She hated her.

The girl was ugly.  Like hate, that was yet another word that Kaori refrained from using.  Except when she referred to this girl.  She stared at the girl's features, sickened by the sight of her face.  The only thing uglier than the way the girl looked, was what Kaori saw inside.  Kaori saw her heart, blackened and rotten inside her chest.  She was truly ugly inside, and that made Kaori hate her even more.

She took a rigid step forward, coming even closer to the object of her loathing.  The girl mimicked her actions, her details becoming sharper in Kaori's eyes as the distance between them diminished.  Both of them glared, eyes stone cold and unrelenting.  

Kaori's fingers flexed before tensing into a tight fist.  The muscles of her arms and shoulders twitched with strain as she tried to keep herself from attacking the girl.  Her fist closed tighter, and she ignored the stinging pain of her own fingernails as they dug into her palm.  In the back of her mind, she knew that her father would question about the new scars, as he did every time she came home with a new mark on her.  As she glared harder at the girl in front of her, she didn't care what her father would think.  Her hatred was all that mattered to her now.  

Hate.  It churned inside of her, burning to be released.  Her fury clouded her thoughts, threatening to take control of her mind and body.  Hatred would claim her actions, and she stopped struggling against it.

Her fist flew at the girl, Kaori's knuckles landing squarely on her ugly face.  Her arm jarred with bone-wrenching force, popping her shoulder out of joint and sending searing pain across her back and up her neck.

She remained, her arm extended and her fist lingering in the place where the girl's face had been.  Glass rained down around her hand, cutting her wrist and forearm as the shards clattered down from the wall.  Her hand bled from the shattered knuckles and the cuts on her arm.  

The face was no longer there.  Only the yellow wall behind the large gym mirror remained, save for the cracked glass stuck in her knuckles or the few pieces of mirror still pinned between her fist and the wall.  Seeing that her reflection had disappeared, Kaori drew her arm back slowly.  Painfully.  The last few shards of mirror fell to the ground, shattering as they hit the floor.  

Straightening to her full height, she peered down at her hand.  Chips of mirror were embedded in her hand.  The white bones of her knuckles contrasted the bloody flesh of her fist.  Her shoulder ached as much as her hand did.  Biting back the scream of pain that constantly threatened to tear from her lungs, she started walking.  

She left the gym and shattered mirror behind.

*   *   *   *   *   *   *

Wufei felt the breath stop in his throat.  Blood.  In the elevator, there was blood on the wall, the floor.  And it was a lot of blood.  Nothing jugular threatening, but not just a paper cut either.  Bad thing was: the blood was in an elevator.  Meaning the trail could end or begin again on any other floor.  Finding that floor was the hard part.  

For a moment, the Chinese pilot considered whether he should go up or go down from the sixth floor.  Of course, systematically he should either go up one floor at a time or down one floor at a time and check for the blood trail.  Most likely the bleeder would not have the security clearance to go up past this floor.  But did that mean he shouldn't bother with searching upstairs yet, or should he go there first to knock out the easy floors of his search pattern?  

Check out the easy floors first, he decided, and pressed the button for floor seven.  

And to Wufei's surprise, the blood trail led down the seventh floor hallway.  He followed it, down the hall, around the corner, to…Sally's lab?  Carefully, Wufei pushed the door open and gasped.

Kaori was lying on the exam table, a bloody lower arm draped over her stomach.  He could hear her heavy breathing, the only evidence that the girl on the table was still alive.  Cautiously, Wufei walked closer, trying to make enough of a sound that he wouldn't take her by surprise.  

"Uncle Wu," she whined.  "Can you get Aunt Sally?"

"Why didn't you call her?" Wufei asked, seeing that Kaori was in an unusually pleasant mood despite her grim condition.  His close relationship with Sally caused him to pick up on many of her skills.  He ran his fingers lightly over her arm, stopping before he reached her wrist.  Not wanting to aggravate her injury, he refrained from his first impulse to pull out the shards of glass that remained embedded in between her knuckles.  That would only increase the bleeding.  

"I'm too tired to call," Kaori answered finally, her voice soft and meek.  "My heart hurts."  She moaned a little as she took a deep breath, the rising of her chest moving her hand ever so slightly.  

Wufei took moment to compose himself.  This wasn't the first time.  Meditation could wait, he had to find Sally to stop her bleeding.  And Kaori's arm looked wrong.  Something about it didn't fit right.  Find Sally, he reminded himself.  "I'll go and get Sally," he told her, putting a calming hand on her forehead before running fullspeed down the hallway.

*   *   *   *   *   *   *

"Heero!" 

Snapping out of his slumber and training his gun on the door, Heero recognized Wufei's voice calling him.  

"I'm coming!" he grumbled back.  Trowa was in the den before Heero could make it to the door, a confused look on his face.  Heero just waved a hand at him, gesturing for him to put his gun away.  "Why didn't you just come in?" Heero asked as he opened the door.

"You kidding?  You and him armed in here?  I'm not going to burst in this door and get my ass shot," Wufei said hurriedly.  He was a little out of breath.  "But there's a problem, Heero.  It's Kaori."

Heero was out the door, disregarding his need for footware, before Wufei could think to turn around and follow.  Trowa remained behind in the apartment, in case he was needed to protect his family.

"Dad," he heard her moan before he rounded the corner to the exam room.  Remarkably, he'd kept some composure through smelling and seeing her blood in the elevator.  He lost that composure now, seeing her.  

Sally had an oxygen mask over her mouth and nose, trying to keep her calm as she administered her aid.  Kaori's arm was strapped to the table in restraints – to keep her arm still as Sally worked.  Using tweezers and a gauze to soak up spurts of blood, Sally slowly made progress in pulling out the chips of glass in Kaori's hand.  Wufei moved to Sally's side, helping with whatever he could.

Trying to keep a smile on his face, Heero walked to Kaori's left side.  He took her hand in his, noticing the thin bloody moon-shaped marks on her palm.  Keeping his eyes locked on hers, he traced his finger over the recent inflictions of pain before holding her hand firmly between both of his.  

"I'm sorry, Daddy," she said softly.  Her eyes seemed bluer when she was sad, Heero noticed.  No doubt they'd seemed as bright scarlet as her mother's eyes when Kaori was angry, when Kaori did this to herself.  He closed his eyes, feeling droplets of water fall.

"It's ok," he found himself muttering as his head fell to the table, next to her head.  The cool of the metal tabled soothed his forehead.  "It's ok."

She flinched.  Heero's head snapped up, seeing Sally tug on a particularly large piece of glass.  He looked back into his daughter's eyes.  They were clear and watery with her own tears.  Kaori had not been drugged prior to Sally's medical attention.  Her eyes told him she felt every sting of pain.  She had probably asked to forgo the anesthetic, to feel everything.  To pay for everything.

He'd never understood.  The way his daughter felt so much anger inside.  The way she felt responsible for the cruelties of the world.  Her habit had started little.  With a pocket knife, she'd started cutting paper-thin cuts on her palm when she was thirteen.  By the time she was fifteen, she'd graduated to holding that same knife over a flame, letting it get red-hot before pressing it to the skin of her arm.  The brands still showed, four years later.  Random marks on her left arm.  Always the left arm – she had to hold the knife with her right.  She was right-handed.  Then the ears…Heero looked up from the table, running his finger along the four studs in her ear.  There were three on the other side, he knew.  They had thought she was getting better, when he and Jin had agreed for her to go to the Academy for the first time.  Her bouts with self-mutilation had subsided.  They had breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that she was getting better.  Then, in one swift decision two years ago, she'd shattered that…

"I think that's all the glass, Kaori," Sally said in her doctor tone.  "You've lost some bone from your knuckles.  Little chips of bone, nothing that can be fixed, but you'll do fine without it."  Kaori nodded as well as she could while laying flat on a table.  "Are you still with me?"

"Yes."

"I'm going to stitch up the gashes now.  Mostly on your knuckles, but some on your wrists, forearms, and the back of your hand.  Falling glass must have caused those cuts.  You understand, Kaori?" Sally asked.  She must have been trying to assess his daughter's mental state.

"Yes."

"You'll have to be very careful for a while, Kaori," Sally said, talking as she worked.  Perhaps for calming Kaori's nerves, perhaps for calming her own.  "These stitches will be delicate for a good couple of weeks.  You've suffered some major damage here.  I'll make sure you have a certain type of splint that we have available here.  It's made for immobilizing the hand in the event of a serious wrist injury, but it will also work in keeping you from closing your hand into a fist.  Doing that would make these stitches split open."  

Sally continued to talk softly as she worked.  Wufei had begun cleaning the blood off of the table and floor.  Stitching was a one-person job.  

"My shoulder…" Kaori said through clenched teeth.  The pain must be overwhelming for her to have to clench her jaw like that, Heero thought.  

"We'll put that back in place as soon as I finish with the bleeding parts of you," Sally said.  "And I suggest that you let me do it," she mentioned, noticing Kaori squirm.  She knew Kaori was capable of pressing back against the table and snapping her shoulder back into place.  More or less.  "I'll make sure it's correct, which is more than you can do right now.  I know it's not in your family's nature, but try to be patient."

Kaori took a deep breath and settled back onto the table.  


	12. Quat's Bodyguard

Chapter Eleven

Heero stood at attention in front of Noin's desk, listening absentmindedly as Lt. Commander West gave reason after reason for Kaori to be expelled from the Academy.  Again.  He had to go through this exact same ritual two years ago, when West got Kaori expelled the first time.  He was not about to go through it again.  Getting restless, he shifted his weight from one foot to the other.  A slight movement, but he was sure Noin caught it.  

"General Noin," West continued, getting to the important part of the speech.  She'd had this speech on reserve in her mind for weeks, just waiting for Yuy to mess up and give her a reason to add a final infraction to her long list.  "This morning, the episode with the gym mirror, is inexcusable.  Cadet Yuy has destroyed property of the Preventors, causing us to have to replace the very expensive glass."  She paused for dramatic effect.  "But more importantly than monetary damage, Cadet Yuy has proven herself to be unstable, in the most basic mental sense…"

"Stop now, Commander," Noin said, holding up her hand in the universal gesture for "halt."  Noin glanced at the hurt eyes of her friend, her employee, the father of the girl in question before continuing, "The mental status of Cadet Yuy is not to be assessed by you.  Only a complete psychological evaluation can determine whether or not she is stable, as you put it, to continue as a student in my Academy.  Your plea has been heard.  You are dismissed."

"But, General Noin, the girl is insane…" West insisted.

"You are dismissed," Noin repeated, her voice more stern.  West took the hint and saluted sharply before leaving Noin's office.  Without another thought of the pushy woman, Noin turned her attention to Heero.  "Stop pretending," she said.  The commanding tone was gone from her presence, leaving nothing but a friend.

Heero slouched immediately, his shoulders slumping as he sat heavily in one of the chairs arranged around Noin's desk.  He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and holding his worried head in his hands.

"What do you think?" she asked him.

"I don't know what I think anymore," Heero answered.  His voice conveyed nothing but tired sadness.  "I just don't know."

Noin leaned forward, setting her elbows on her desk.  "Obviously more is going on than you're telling me, Heero.  Trowa and Quatre show up suddenly with their families in tow.  You are all armed, and I don't mind lending the weapons, so don't ask…" she added when Heero looked like he was about to apologize for stealing the handguns.  "Your daughter is even carrying your pistol, Heero.  What is going on?"  

Heero sighed.  He'd have to tell Noin.  She could be trusted, couldn't she?  She could, he decided.  "Jin found a List.  That's why she hasn't come back.  That's why Tro and Quat are here.  That's why we're all on edge, stressed, and armed."

Noin's eyes grew wide with surprise.  A List?!  It explained the strangeness of Trowa and Quatre coming here unannounced.  It explained why her friends were so on edge and upset.  "Are you all on it?" she asked.

Heero nodded his head affirmatively.  "And our families."

This time, Noin couldn't conceal her gasp.  "Your families too? This is horrible."  They sat in silence for a while.  After the shock had worn off, Noin turned back to her serious soldier self.  "What precautions have you taken?  Your plans?"

"Few precautions, save for being armed.  And we have no plans.  Jin has yet to contact us again."  Heero slipped into soldier mode as well.

"I feared the worst when we discovered the shuttle remains, but I never would have imagined that someone was hunting Jin.  Or the rest of you."  Noin was quiet for a while.  "What can I do to help, Heero?"

He was quiet for a moment.  "Leave Kaori alone for now.  Let this List thing solve before you even consider her expulsion.  She needs as little problems as possible right now."  

Noin thought for a moment.  Should she ignore the troubles Kaori was causing with her destructive behavior?  Or should she stay true to her commitments as the Dean in charge of the Academy?  Heero's deep blue eyes begged her silently to overlook the incident in the gym.  She smiled.  "Whatever you need from me, Heero, I'll give it.  Kaori's problems within the Academy will be postponed until your current family situation is alleviated.  But I suggest you consider her psychological problems when you place your friend's families under her protection.  Having someone like Kaori around may not be the wisest choice in this problem.  You need someone you can trust on your side, Heero.  Can you trust Kaori to act when you need her?"

Heero stood up without answering Noin.  He simply smiled and mumbled a thank you before leaving her office.  Noin watched him go, noticing the way his demeanor changed when she mentioned her reservations about Kaori's mental health.  

He stalked down the hallway, too angry with the world to notice the students scatter from him as he made his way to his office.  This morning's events replayed through his mind as he walked. 

Kaori's shoulder was put back into place fairly easily, and she was now sleeping soundly under Heero's watchful eye.  Sally had bandaged her hand after stitching her wounds closed and used more gauze to wrap her arm to her chest, immobilizing it during this sensitive first stage of healing as well as successfully immobilizing her sore shoulder.  

_"She'll be alright," he heard Duo say behind him.  "We should all talk now."  Duo led the way out of Sally's lab, down the hall, and into Sally's office.  Trowa, Quatre, and Wufei were waiting there.  All had stern looks on their faces.  Something told him that they'd already come to a decision of some kind, and they were just all there to inform him._

_"What is it?" Heero asked.  His eyes scanned their faces.  Trowa was as still as stone, and, as always, impossible to read.  Quatre on the other hand was an open book.  His large eyes shimmering with unshed tears and he unconsciously clutched Trowa's arm for support.  Wufei's face was stern, but his eyes, too, were saddened as they gazed upon him.  Beside him, Duo was already crying and making no effort to hide his emotions.  _

_Trowa stepped forward, having been delegated to deliver the news to Heero.  "We've come to a decision," he announced, "that we cannot trust Kaori."  Heero's mouth dropped open slightly, but the usually quiet ex-pilot continued.  "Her behavior this morning had led us all to doubt her reliability when it comes to protecting our families' lives."  Heero looked heart-broken, and Trowa took a deep breath._

_"Unless you can guarantee us that she won't do this kind of thing again," Duo said, speaking his own personal opinion.  He knew that Wufei and Trowa were closed to the option of reinstating Kaori as bodyguard over Natalie and Quatre Jr.  But Duo would trust Kaori with his own sons' lives as long as Heero still believed in her.  _

_"She's failed after one such guarantee," Wufei growled.  "Or did you happen to forget the last time she snapped you promised that it wouldn't happen again?!"  Wufei's voice grew uncomfortably loud as he spoke.  "Kaori's problems were supposed to go away the last time this happened.  You were supposed to take care of it, Heero!  You promised she wouldn't do this again and now she has.  How can we trust her again?"_

"I TRUST HER!" Heero screamed, as loud as he possibly could.  "I would put my life in her hands, no matter how damaged they were!  She WILL NOT fail in her responsibilities."  Heero's outburst caused Quatre to cling closer to Trowa, and Wufei stepped back like he had been hit in the face.  Heero turned to Duo.  "She would never hurt anyone," he said softly, sinking into Duo's arms.

Heero slammed his fist into his office door, throwing it open with the force of his blow.  He sank into his chair, trying to rid his head of the memories.  The memories of his friends' doubts, of his superior's uncertainties, of his daughter's failures.  

"There's this invention called a doorknob that is much more effective when you try to open doors," Duo's voice said.  Heero looked up to see him there, running his hand over the nice dent Heero had put on his office door.  "I see where she gets this urge to punch flat surfaces comes from…" Duo mused.

"Not funny," Heero told him.  But Duo's broad teasing smile wouldn't let Heero stay mad at the braided fool for long.  "What do you want?" he asked with a much nicer tone of voice.

"Just to check on you, buddy.  The kids came by my office a while ago.  They said that your class had been cancelled."

"Had a meeting with Noin," Heero explained in response to Duo's unasked question.  "She agreed to overlook this whole…mess…until we deal with the other mess we're in."

"There's just mess all over," Duo joked.  He actually elicited a laugh from the Perfect Soldier.  "By the way, the kids are fine.  Kaori's in her room and still asleep, Mei says.  Sally didn't tell us, but I suspect that she gave Kaori a little something extra in that steroid injection."

Heero nodded.  "I thought so too."  He booted up his laptop.  "Well, back to work," he announced, meaning to do some research, otherwise known as hacking, regarding the List he was currently a member of.  "And you have a class soon," he reminded Duo.  "Lunch is almost over."

Duo nodded and said goodbye to Heero, hoping he'd feel better soon.  Meanwhile, it was up to him to keep spirits high.  With a spring in his step and a friendly whistle on his lips, Duo went to his classroom.

Some students were already there.  Mei and Luke were in their usual back row seats, leaning in close while they talked.  Duo smiled a little at the way his son was hitting on the Chinese girl.  Wufei was going to flip.  More and more of the class filed in before the bell rang.  Duo was not surprised when Kaori neglected to come to class.  She was probably still under the influence of Sally's secretive drugging.  He was surprised, however, when Hades never came to class.

*   *   *   *   *   *   *

He lay next to her on the bed, his arm pillowing her head as she drowsily rambled on about nothingness.  An effect of the drugs that Sally had slipped in her system.  He was on her left side, of course, and above the covers while she was snuggled beneath to keep warm.  Kaori was singing now…something about forsaken, suicide, and angels.  He didn't catch all the words.  

"You know," she said, a little more clearly.  "This morning when I woke up and saw you, your bangs were all fuzzy and around your face.  The sun was coming in through this window."  She pointed to the large window next to her bed.  "And it made your hair all shiny and beautiful.  I thought you looked like an angel."  Kaori smiled a little and moved her head off of Hayden's shoulder and onto the pillow – a signal she wanted to sleep.  

"An angel?" Hayden asked, moving his arm away so she could get more comfortable.  He started to get up off the bed, but her uninjured left hand stopped him.  

"Warm," she said simply, her eyes heavy and closing.  "A very beautiful, warm angel…"  Kaori rolled onto her left side, curling a little as she settled again on the stiff mattress.  

Hayden glanced over at the chronometer, seeing that Chang's class was almost over.  Mei and Luke would be up here soon to check on Kaori.  Catherine and Roddy had come, without the kids, right after lunch.  None of the pilots had come to see her.  Not even his father.

The door clicked, opening.

Hayden jumped off of the bed, sliding quickly into the chair set up next to the bed.  Whether Colonel Yuy saw him in bed with his daughter or not, Heero never made any sign of it to Hayden.  He got up from the chair when Heero got closer to the bed, meaning to leave father and daughter alone to talk about…about whatever it was they needed to talk about.

"Don't go," Col. Yuy said to him, holding out a hand to stop the retreating Maxwell.  "I won't be here long.  Just need to give her some information."  

"Daddy?" Kaori asked from the bed, responding to her father's voice.  

"I have to tell you something, Kaori," Heero said, sitting on the edge of her bed.  Kaori opened her eyes and rolled her head up to see him more clearly.  He had her attention, despite the drowsiness of the drugs.  "I'm leaving.  I found some things today.  I found your mother.  And she found the author of our little List," he said quickly.  He hoped this was sinking in.  With Duo's kid here, he didn't want to reveal too much even though he was pretty sure Mei and the Maxwell boys had figured things out.  

"You're going?"  Heero's heart pulled.  She sounded heart-broken.  "Let me go."

"No," Heero said with a smile.  "I have another assignment for you."

At that moment, a little blonde head poked out from around the door.  

"Can I come in yet, Uncle Heero?" the boy asked.

Heero nodded and accepted the energetic blonde into his lap, holding him close so that he wouldn't reach down and touch Kaori's injuries.  

"We're leaving ASAP," he told Kaori.  "And any time Junior isn't with Senior or Duo, you're to stick with him like glue."

Kaori smiled at the figure of her father, holding the blonde boy in his lap.  They looked so different, as she was sure she looked with the child.  Her father's tanned and strict face with dark locks and deep blue eyes seemed opposite Little Quat's light blonde hair, bright aquamarine eyes, fair skin, and cute smiling face.  "I understand, Father," she said.

"We're trusting you, Kaori.  I'm trusting you."  Heero set Quatre Jr. on the floor and leaned close to kiss his daughter goodbye.  "I love you," he whispered before pressing his lips to her forehead.

"Me too," Kaori replied softly.  "I won't fail you, Dad," she said louder as he was leaving the room.

"I know you won't."  Heero looked down at Little Quat, putting a hand on his head to keep the bubbly person in one place long enough to speak to him.  "Remember what I told you, Quatre.  Don't ever go anywhere unless your dad, Hayden's dad, or Kaori are with you," he instructed.  Quatre Jr. nodded furiously.  Heero nodded goodbye to Hayden and said to Kaori, "Be safe," before closing the door and leaving.  


	13. More Games

Chapter Twelve 

"You sure about this?" Trowa asked, checking their progress to the L1 colony cluster.  "Roddy isn't too happy about me leaving."

"Very sure," Heero replied, helping Trowa with navigation.  "And Jin isn't too happy about us coming to see her, but they'll learn to deal with it."

"They married difficult men," Wufei said from behind them.  He got two quiet glares in response.  "Do you think Quatre and Duo were too angry?" he asked, wanting to change the subject.

"Duo was pissed," Heero replied.  "Quatre just said he understood.  He's still uneasy about Kaori taking care of Quatre Jr., but he accepted it."  He stretched, rubbing his sore neck.

"Heero?" the communicator crackled.  

"Yuy here," he replied, pressing a few buttons to ease the static.

Jin's face appeared.  She was smiling despite her displeasure of her husband not obeying her command to stay at home.  "You shouldn't have come."

"Had to come," Heero said simply. 

"Well, I'm waiting for you at the shuttle docks.  Find me."  She signed off.  

Heero turned to Trowa.  "How long till we dock?"  

"Three minutes," Trowa replied, glancing at a few dials on the consol.  

Masterfully, Trowa landed their unmarked Preventor shuttle on an L1 colony.  Jin was there, waiting for them when they disembarked, as she promised.  As soon as Heero set foot on the colony ground, she was in his arms, holding him close and practically choking him with her enthusiasm.  Jin finally relinquished her grip on Heero's neck, proceeding to hug both Trowa and Wufei but with less fervor.  

"You shouldn't have come," she repeated as she walked with them into her temporary apartment.  "I've found out too many things, and we're all paying for it now."

"Are you saying that the List is your fault?" Wufei asked, overeager to plant the blame on someone so he could deliver swift justice.  

*   *   *   *   *   *   *

"You know, I feel so much better with a Yuy around," Roddy said with a smirk, sipping some more lemonade for the second day in a row.  Catherine looked over to where Kaori sat crosslegged on the grass a few feet away.  Her "episode" had taken place only yesterday morning, and Kaori was healing with incredible speed.  The dislocated shoulder was no longer an issue, having fully mended.  Her hand was still wrapped and supported with a splint, but in a few days Sally should be able to take out the stitches.  Of course, her knuckles would remain mostly scar tissue for the rest of her life, but Kaori was still healing quickly.  In all ways.  

"She looks so much her father," Quatre Senior mused, noting the way Heero's gun was tucked into the back waist of her pants.  Even in the safe shadow of the Academy building, Kaori's eyes shifted over every known parameter, checking for danger.  She pretended to watch his son as he played soccer with some of the cadets.  She was really watching every movement of his son, as his acting bodyguard.  

"I know that you boys didn't agree with having Kaori watch over Junior," Catherine said with a smile at her husband.  She stroked through his hair as his head lay on her lap.  "But I'm very glad that she is here with us while Trowa, Wufei, and Heero are gone.  Not that I don't have complete faith in you, dear."  She tugged on Quatre's hair, making him smile.  

"I only wish our son was not first on the List," Quatre said with a sorrowful tone.  

*   *   *   *   *   *   *

"Do not blame her," Heero said with an intimidating growl.  He glared at Wufei, upset that the Chinese pilot would ever suggest that the List was a product of Jin's doing.  Wufei's eyes apologized silently for him, showing that he hadn't meant to accuse anyone.

"It is my fault, Heero," Jin said softly, sinking into a couch in her temporary apartment.  "I should have died in that cell twenty years ago." 

"Don't talk like that," Trowa soothed, sitting next to her.

"What could you have done to target all of us, and our families?" Heero asked, sitting on the other side of her.  He couldn't understand why Jin was placing the blame for all of this on herself.  It seemed like he couldn't understand much of anything anymore.  Heero was feeling more and more useless as time went on, but he wouldn't tell Jin that.  He couldn't stop his daughter from hurting herself.  He couldn't keep his family and friends out of harm's way.  Nothing was going right anymore.

"I fell in love with you," she replied, looking up into his eyes.  Her crimson eyes shimmered with unshed tears as she bit her lip, trying not to give into her urge to cry.  "I'm so sorry I took you away from her."  Jin buried her head in Heero's chest, too ashamed to look at him.

"Her?" Wufei asked.

"Relena," Heero answered, having already suspected their enemy.  "Relena is behind all of this."

"How do you know?" Wufei asked, pressing for more answers.

"Quatre's family first, to get even with Quatre for dismissing her after they…slept together.  Then my family, to get even with me for not loving her.  And for loving Jin instead.  She wants Quat and I to suffer before we die.  And then she'll eliminate her greatest threats, you guys.  Then she'll mop up the rest of your families."  Heero explained his interpretation of the names on the List with his usual monotone, slipping into soldier mode in order to distance himself from the pain.  "But there is more than just personal revenge in this…"

"What else is there?"  Whether Wufei or Trowa asked the question, Heero couldn't be sure, as his attention was more fully concentrating on Jin's sobbing form curled in his lap.  

"I think someone might even be using Relena.  Using Relena's influence to their own means and simply allowing this little plot for revenge in order to get us out of the way," Heero answered.  He hoped that he was wrong.  He hoped.

*   *   *   *   *   *   *

"Uncle Duo!" Little Quat yelled as he ran up to the tangled mass of braids and bodies, again.  "Uncle Duo, you can't tackle in football!"  The little blonde pulled his "Uncle's" hand and tried to get him off the ground.  He was laughing as the pile of Maxwell boys slowly disentangled.  

"Sorry, kid," Duo said, smiling and rubbing his shoulder where he'd hit the ground especially hard.  A few other cadets had gathered around, since their friendly soccer scrimmage had been interrupted by their instructor's insistence that tackling was allowed in football.  "I'm just not quite used to this game.  You say 'football' and I think of the American version of the game.  You know, your Uncle Heero and I used to play basketball when we were in school.  Man, did we make a great team.  Together, we could hustle any team of players."  Duo smiled brightly at the miniature Quatre and helped his own sons off the ground.  "Sorry guys," he said to Hayden and Luke.  

"It's alright, old man," Luke teased, picking some grass out of his hair.  "Not like you could hurt such fine studs with your puny little tackles…"

Some surrounding cadets chuckled at the friendly banter.

"Oh really?" Duo challenged.  "So you want to play a real game of football?"

"Dad," Hayden said, being the voice of reason in the family.  He wasn't much of a voice of reason, but compared to his father and his brother, he was a stick in the mud.  "We don't have the pads for playing real football."

"You're right," Duo conceded with a sigh.  "So, shall we get on with the game?"  The surrounding cadets cheered lightly and broke back up into their two teams, waiting for the Maxwell family to join.  Natalie and Quatre Jr. were already standing near their group of teammates.  

Mei walked over to the Maxwells.  "Perhaps we should put you all on one team, so that Colonel Maxwell isn't tempted to tackle either of his sons?" she suggested with a raised eyebrow.

"He can take my place," Daniel offered, stepping over to Duo's team.  "Please, sir, take my position on Luke and Hayden's team."  

Duo looked back and forth, seeing his sons with Natalie on one team and Mei with Little Quat and Daniel near his old team.  "Hmm…I guess I can spare you boys the embarrassment of being beaten by your ol' dad for the time being," he said, joining his sons' team.

*   *   *   *   *   *   *

Kaori watched as the elder Maxwell slapped his sons on the back and joined their team.  Good, at least he won't be so tempted to tackle them all the time now, she thought, shifting a little as she sat on the grass.  Her eyes wandered endlessly, stealing glances at the Preventor Academy building and grounds as she continuously checked for any signs of danger.  She sighed and leaned back on her elbows, feeling her father's gun's pressure against the small of her back.  For the moment, it seemed as if they were all safe.  

He watched Hayden for a moment, indulging herself in his beautiful form.  His long braid swung wildly as he maneuvered on the field.  Sweat made his tan Preventor undershirt stick to his muscles, showing them off ever so nicely.  As she watched, Little Quat scored a goal, and despite the fact that Hayden was on the opposing team, he gathered Quat into a congratulatory hug.  Luke, who had been positioned as goalie, looked upset at the goal against him, but congratulated Quatre Junior as well.

Little Quat seemed to be enjoying himself.  Though the boy was aware of possible danger, he didn't let it spoil his fun.  The other cadets had accepted him and Natalie instantly, not that Kaori was surprised.  Many of them were sure to have younger brothers or sisters at home.  Playing with Quatre's and Trowa's kids was natural to them.  Even Daniel looked after the kids.  They couldn't be safer with this many big and overprotective cadets around.  

Daniel caught her eye as he ran downfield.  He made a little gesture, pretending to drink from a glass for a moment.  Obviously, he was thirsty.  With a sigh of stiff muscles, Kaori got up off the ground and walked over to where Quatre Senior, Catherine, and Roddy were sipping lemonade while lounging on a blanket.  

"Hello, Kaori," Catherine greeted her with a big smile.  Quatre was practically asleep with his head in her lap, so he hardly noticed the new person walking up to their blanket.  "How does your arm feel today?"

Kaori winced a little at the reminder.  She'd been stupid to give into her urges like that, and it hurt more to be reminded by a family member than to see the injuries herself.  Not that she looked in the mirror much anymore.  Seeing her current state of disabilities would make her go off the deep end, and she knew it.  

"Fine, Aunt Cathy," she said, trying to mask the hurt.  "Sally says I'm healing well, considering the extent of my injuries."  Kaori reached down and poured some lemonade into a glass and held it in her left hand.  Her right still couldn't close all the way, due to the splint.  

"Are you getting used to operating with your left hand?" Roddy asked, just trying to make conversation.  Kaori was awfully quiet normally, and since she'd been appointed as Quat Jr.'s bodyguard yesterday, they'd hardly heard more than four words from her mouth.  

"Father taught me to shoot left-handed, as well as right-handed which is natural for me.  He didn't want any possible injuries to hinder me if I needed to protect myself.  I can write left-handed too," she replied.  Kaori didn't know if Aunt Roddy was trying to assess her physical condition or just trying to be pleasant and act interested.  But she felt compelled to assure them all that she was more than capable of taking care of Little Quat.  

"We never doubted you," Quatre said, opening his eyes and looking deep into Kaori's strange-colored red-violet eyes.  

"Thank you, sir," she said to him, bowing her head slightly.  Kaori walked away, returning to her old trampled place in the grass.  Setting the full glass of lemonade down beside her, she noticed Daniel slipping out of the game to come and get his refreshment.

"Hey," he said, slightly out of breath.  He plopped down on the grass next to her, drinking his cool beverage in large gulps.  "I really needed that.  Thanks."

"No problem."

"Something wrong?" he asked, noticing that she wasn't necessarily paying attention to him, but instead looking out at the open field where the soccer game was taking place.  

"No."

Daniel's brow furrowed slightly.  Typical of her not to talk when something was wrong.  But obviously she wasn't willing to talk about it.  So, pursue another avenue of conversation… "How's the hand?"

"Healing."

Daniel's concentration on Kaori was broken as another blonde trotted up to their little powwow on the grass.  He smiled at the approaching figure.

"Kaori?" Little Quat asked, embarrassment evident in his face and voice.  And by the way he was jumping back and forth from foot to foot, Daniel could tell exactly what he was going to ask next.  "Can you take me to the bathroom?"  Even in his haste, the boy knew better than to bolt for the Academy building without checking with Kaori first.  

Kaori smiled up at him and stood.  Daniel stood up quicker.  

"I'll take him, Kaori," Daniel offered.  He smiled at Little Quat.  "I need to go too."

After a millisecond of extreme analysis, Kaori decided that the Academy was safe enough for Little Quat to be out of her sight for the amount of time it took for him to relieve his call of nature.  "Sure.  Thanks, Daniel," she said, giving Little Quat a smile.  

She watched as Daniel and Little Quat disappeared into the building, keeping her eye on the door they entered and anxiously waiting for their return.  After about two minutes, Kaori decided to follow them.  She trusted Daniel completely, but she did not wish to have anything happen to Little Quat just because of a slip in her judgment.  Better to be overprotective to the point of damned annoying than to lose Little Quat.

The halls were darkened.  Something was wrong.  And Kaori was instantly cursing her stupid judgment as she raced down the sterile Academy hallways in the direction of scuffling sounds off to her right.  The direction of the repair hangars where Col. Maxwell worked, her mind noted as she sped around another corner, barely missing the sharp edge of the corner with her shoulder.  She saw the two blondes ahead, being pulling into the third hangar door.  Her left hand clasped around the gun, bringing it before her as she poured on more speed, rushing to get to the door.  Sounds of engines warming up before takeoff roared in her ears. 

She feared she was too late.


	14. Stolen Hope

Ryoko-onee: sorry for freaking you out!  Don't worry, everything turns out well in the end…I hope :)  there's some torture coming up, so be prepared. Chapter Thirteen 

The roar of engines pierced the air, startling Quatre from his sleep and immediately halting the friendly soccer game he was "watching."  The players on the field flung themselves to the ground, putting arms over their heads to protect themselves as a wing of the Preventor Academy burst into an explosion.  Quatre's eyes adjusted to the bright flames in time to see a transport break from Duo's repair hangar and take off.  

Smoke billowed from the wing, and from his position, Quatre could feel the intense heat of the explosion.  Catherine moaned underneath him.  He didn't remember throwing himself on top of her, but his body must have reacted faster than his mind, for once, and covered her to protect her.  Quatre glanced aside, assessing the status of everyone outside. 

Roddy was on the ground next to him and Catherine, stirring to get up and search the survivors as well.  He eased off of Cathy and made his way to the field.  Most of the cadets were getting up slowly as well.  Luke held Mei in his arms, soothing her while Hayden held a t-shirt to her head.  Apparently Mei hit her head on something.  He'd check on her in a moment, her injuries didn't seem too serious and she already had the Maxwell boys looking after her.  Duo was holding Natalie in his lap.  The poor girl was crying and Duo was doing the best that he could to comfort her.  

"Where's Kaori?" Roddy asked from behind him.  He turned around to see Roddy holding Catherine in her arms.  Cathy was crying.  Quatre was suddenly thankful that Roddy hadn't asked where Quatre Jr. was.  His poor wife probably wouldn't be able to keep it together if Roddy had asked that.  

"Keep a look out here, I'm going inside," he told Roddy, giving at Catherine a kiss on the forehead as he ran to the Academy building.  

Smoke choked him as he entered the same doors his son had just passed through not five minutes ago.  Quatre took off his uniform shirt and held it over his mouth and nose to cut down on the amount of smoke he inhaled.  The t-shirt he wore beneath did little to protect his shoulders and back from the heat of the explosion.  He saw flames from the hallway on his right and started to head that direction.  

Something brushed his leg from behind.  Hayden was there, crouching beside Quatre with an extra t-shirt over his own mouth and nose.  He nodded at Quatre.

"Where is Kaori?"  He heard Hayden's voice muffled through the shirt.  

"She went in here after Quatre Junior," Quatre answered.  "Where should we look for them?"

"Wherever the action is," Hayden said.  

Together they crawled along the floor, making their way through the heated halls.  Debris rained from above as sections of the ceiling caught fire and fell.  Smoke caused their eyes to water and tremendous heat made them sweat as they moved closer and closer to the hangar.  It became too much.  Hayden was tugging on Quatre's pant leg, trying to get his attention.  Quatre looked back.  He was motioning for them to go back.  And as much as Quatre wanted to continue and search for his son, the smoke was too thick, the heat too intense, and the situation becoming more and more dangerous as wreckage fell around them.

They hurried and made their way back to the field, coughing and sputtering as they graciously fed clean air back into their lungs.  Catherine ran to Quatre, hugging him close and not minding his dirty sweaty body.  

"He's gone, isn't he Quatre?" she sobbed into his shoulder.  

"I don't know, Cathy.  I don't know."  Quatre just held her close.  

*   *   *   *   *   *   *

Kaori blinked as she regained consciousness.  Her head ached from where she'd hit it against a bulkhead in the transport.  Stretching her weary shoulders, she found out that her wrists were bound behind her with handcuffs.  Frowning, she took in her surroundings.

Lying in the back of the transport, Kaori had barely thrown herself into the departing air transport before it took off and left the Academy.  The sudden burst of thrust had flung her against a wall division and knocked her unconscious.  Apparently in her state of unaware, someone had decided to detain her.  She could feel the dried blood under her hair, where she had cut her head against the wall.  And her previously injured hand ached.  Rolling off her shoulder and onto her stomach, she alleviated some of the pain on her hand.  

Where was Little Quat? she wondered, looking around the transport.  She saw no one and briefly thought that perhaps the whole ship was on autopilot and she the only passenger.  But she was wrong.  Whimpering to her left caught her attention and she rolled over to get a look.  Little Quat was there, sniffing as he struggled against his own set of wristcuffs.  

"Hey there," Kaori said quietly, not wanting to startle him.  His head jerked up at the sound of her voice.

"Kaori!  You're alive!"

"Of course, little one.  I'm alive," she replied, wondering why he was so surprised to hear her voice.  She had been laying in plain view.  What would have him scared like that?

"You won't be for long," a menacing voice said from behind her.  Little Quat's eyes widened in fear as he shrank back from the form that stood over Kaori.  She didn't need to turn around to see who that was.  

"Daniel," she hissed.  

"Oh, don't act so surprised, Kaori.  You knew it was me all along, didn't you?  And now you feel like even more of a failure for not listening to that fear tugging at your heart weeks ago.  You _are_ a complete failure, Yuy.  Lt. Commander West had it right from the beginning."

"Was she in on this?"

"You give her too much credit, Yuy.  Way too much credit.  No, she's not in on this little operation that I have going here.  There are much bigger fish who would like to see you fry," he chuckled.

"You butchered that cliché," she retorted.  The swift kick to her head stopped the rest of her insults, and her consciousness.

*   *   *   *   *   *   *

Heero's eyes grew wide at Quatre's smeared and sweaty face.  The man seemed as if he'd run through a burning building, and his chest was still heaving as he panted to regain his breath.

"What is it, Quatre?"

"Junior's gone."

Heero's mouth dropped.  Jin's hand gripped his tightly, with bone-crushing force.  He didn't tell her to let go though.  The shock of Quatre's appearance and announcement was more than enough to render Heero useless for the next few moments.  Luckily, Wufei and Trowa were there.

"Natalie?" Trowa asked, instantly afraid for his own daughter.  He knew that his family had low priority for this hit list, but that wasn't going to stop a father from worrying.  

"She's with Duo.  Scared, but ok," Quatre said, keeping his eyes down.  That meant he was holding back.  He wasn't telling them everything, and most likely, they didn't want to know.  But they had to.

"Yuy," Wufei hissed.  He didn't know whether he was angry at her failure to save Quatre Junior or worried about her personal safety.  Without a doubt, the girl most likely threw herself in the line of fire in an attempt to save the boy.

"She's gone," Quatre answered. 

Heero and Jin both let out a gasp of emotional pain.  Kaori was gone too?  Their daughter had been kidnapped with Quatre's son?  Heero bit the inside of his cheek, struggling to keep his soldier's mask in place.  His wife needed his strength now.  

"Gone?" Jin echoed, her eyes seeming distant.  "Gone?"

"I'm sorry," Quatre said, still not looking up at the vidscreen.  Hearing the pain in his friends' voices was enough to make him sick.  Looking at them would only break his resolve to not throw up there in Noin's office.  "We're searching all we can, but even in the rubble, it's obvious that the children were taken.  I'm sorry."  

"Me too, Quat.  Me too," Heero said with a small voice as he leaned forward and clicked off the transmission.  No doubt, Quatre was feeling as much pain as he was.  As any parent would.  The fear of your own child in danger…he shuddered.  Blood filled his mouth as his biting ruptured the skin on the inside of his cheek.  

Trowa and Wufei left quietly.  Their own children were safe, for the moment.  Heero and Jin had more than their hands full with trying to overcome this dread.  And for those two, the previously least emotional couple of the group, this would prove to be a very trying time.

Heero swallowed the blood in his mouth, turning to look at his wife, his beloved Jin.  Her eyes were still distant as she looked past the monitor and past the wall of the room.  The normally bright crimson depths of her eyes seemed dark and dead.  He pulled her close, ignoring the pain of his hand for the time being.  Holding her was much more important than the status of the bones in his left hand.  

She sighed in his arms, resting her head in that comfortable place between his neck and shoulder.  Her free arm snaked around his torso, also wrapping around him with bone-crushing force.  If he didn't watch it, he was going to get more than just a few bones broken.  Breathing warmth into her hair, he nuzzled his chin against her soft dark hair.  

"Don't worry," he said, trying to soothe her.  "I know that Kaori can take care of herself, and Little Quat."

Jin sniffed.  "I know."  Her grip on Heero's hand and around his ribs lessened, and Heero took a deep breath of air, thankful to be rid of her iron latch.  "I feel as if it is my fault…"

"Don't say that," Heero said shortly.  "Kaori agreed to protecting Quatre Jr.  She knew what she was getting into when I asked her to be his bodyguard."

"That's not what I meant, Heero.  I feel like I could have stopped all this.  Perhaps if I had worked harder, I could have figured out who was behind this earlier.  This all could have been prevented."  

Heero was about to tell her, again, to not say such things. But something she'd said caught his attention.  "Figured it out _earlier_?" he asked.

*   *   *   *   *   *   *

Little Quat's mind raced as they dragged Kaori out of the transport.  He had to find a way to get out of there.  Self-preservation was foremost on his mind, but he couldn't just leave Kaori.  His heart beat a thousand times a minute as he looked around at the big scary, scruffy soldiers who came in and talked to Daniel.  Daniel, the boy who'd seemed like his friend.  Quatre glared at him as he spoke to the soldiers, waving with his hand in the direction they'd taken Kaori.  The soldiers motioned in his direction, obviously asking what should be done with him.  

Quatre couldn't hear them, due to the ringing in his ears and their distance from him.  But he wasn't going to wait around for an answer.  With a burst of energy he didn't know he had, he scuttled out of the ship and onto the ground, pumping his legs fast in the direction he'd seen them take Kaori.  He wasn't going to let his only friend out of his sight.  He ran into the building, unafraid of the soldiers who were now pursuing him, grabbing for him as he ran past their posts in the hallways.  _Kaori!!_ his mind screamed as he ran.  

_Lil' Quat?_ he heard a faint voice call to him.  _Is that you?_

_Kaori!_ his mind screamed again as he turned and ran down another hall.  He'd heard of his father's empathic abilities, his space heart, but he'd never really believed it.  Not until now.  He could feel Kaori's worry for him.  He was aware of the anger of the soldiers pursuing him.  And he followed the trail of concern that led him to his only friend in this horrible compound.

He burst through the door suddenly, smacking directly into Kaori's kneeling form.  But she didn't seem surprised at his unexpected entrance, unlike the others present in the room.  Even with her hands secured firmly behind her back, she accepted his small arms around her neck and embraced him as well as she could.  He was thankful that Daniel had cuffed his hands in front of him, or else he wouldn't have been able to latch onto Kaori like this.  

Kaori's stern looks deterred any of the surrounding soldiers in the interrogation room from approaching her and taking the little blonde from around her neck.  And Little Quat's head just remained buried in her neck as he held onto her for dear life.  She could hear his little whimpers and sniffs as he tried to bite back the tears.  

_It's ok, little one,_ she said to him.  _I am here with you_.

_Promise me you won't leave?_ he asked.  He didn't care how he was able to communicate with her like this, just as long as he could hear her voice in his head.  And hear her promises.

_I promise that I'll do everything I can to stay with you, Quatre.  Everything_.  

The tender moment was broken when the steel door flew open, slamming against the steel walls of the interrogation room with a loud clang.  Quatre jumped a little, but didn't move his face from its place in her neck.  Kaori didn't want him to.  Daniel stood in the doorway, red-faced from his recent running after Quatre or embarrassment at having the boy escape him.  Or both.  In his hands, Kaori saw the metal pipe.  Two more large soldiers appeared behind him as he stepped in the room.  Kaori resisted the urge to shudder.  They looked vicious.  

Quatre trembled against her.  Damn, he probably felt the shudder of fear through her.  She'd have to be more careful to keep her thoughts and feelings hidden from him from now own.  Especially with the torture about to begin.  

The two large soldiers behind Daniel walked around him and each grabbed her upper arm fiercely.  She hissed in pain at their strong grips, and she regretted even more when they jerked her unceremoniously to her feet.  Poor Little Quat was too short to reach the ground when his wrists were linked in cuffs behind Kaori's neck.  He gave her a pleading look to not let him go, but Kaori bent her head down regardless, letting his arms slip from around her neck.  Quatre landed with a light thud on the floor, standing in front of her as the soldiers uncuffed her hands and brought them to the front of her body.  They resecured the cuffs about her wrists in front of her body.  She knew where this was leading.  Unable to control her instincts, she glanced up, seeing the hook that swung on a chain seven feet above the ground.  

_Don't worry, Quat_, she said to him.  _Don't pay attention to the things they do to me.  You're too valuable for them to hurt you_.

_I'm not worried about me_, he replied, his eyes watering over again with unshed tears.

_Don't worry_, she said again, wincing as the firm grip on her arm jarred her healing knuckles.  Her arms were lifted above her head, the chain of the cuffs slung over the hook.  Her feet couldn't reach the ground, and she swung wildly as she tried to reach the floor.  Shoulders wrenched at an impossible angle as her heavy body pulled down on them with too much force.  

_Don't worry_, Kaori repeated.


	15. Psycho Convention

There's some language in this chapter, but it's mainly somewhat humorous.  Just a warning. Chapter Fourteen 

Kaori didn't flinch as Daniel walked up to her, vengeance written plainly in his eyes.  She gave him her own version of her father's death glare, convinced not to let him suspect even the slightest of fear from her.  And she wasn't really afraid, so masking fear was pretty easy to do.  Mostly, she worried about Little Quat.  But the kid kept sending her messages, telling her that he wasn't frightened.  Kaori smiled evilly in Daniel's direction, reveling in the surprised look she got in return.  With neither of them afraid, the soldiers who'd captured them had few to no bargaining chips.  

Enter psycho bitch number one, Kaori thought, watching the middle aged wheat-haired woman click into the room wearing ridiculously fancy high-heeled shoes.  Her immaculately pressed business dress suit was a sickening shade of cotton candy pink, and her strappy inappropriate shoes were the same color.  Kaori rolled her eyes at the cushioned woman.  

"Hello Miss Yuy," psycho bitch number one said in a fake sweet tone of voice.  "It is certainly a pleasure to have you here in our company.  You're quite an unexpected guest, but a pleasure all the same."

"Cut the crap," Kaori hissed at her.

"Now, now.  That's not the way the daughter of a Gundam pilot should conduct herself.  You should act with the highest esteem, young lady."  

"What do you know of my father?"  Kaori kept her eyes trained on her as she sat primly in a well-placed chair.  

"I know plenty of dear Heero," she said.  "He and I were in love once."

"Once."

The woman's eyes narrowed.  "I'm not so sure you should be taking that tone of voice with me, young lady.  After all, your life is in my hands, as well as the life of the dear little blonde over there."  A perfectly manicured hand motioned to Little Quat.  "Do you know with whom you're speaking?"

Was Kaori supposed to be impressed?  "Of course I know, former Highness Queen Relena Dorlian-Peacecraft.  Do you even _know _my father?"  Kaori smirked at the irritated look in psycho bitch number one's eyes.

Before she could reply, another blonde appeared in the doorway.  Her long hair brushed along the floor as she pranced into the room, looking more like a child in a candy shop than a 40-year-old woman.  Enter psycho bitch number two.  

"Miss Relena, you shouldn't bother the prisoners in such a way," psycho bitch number two said with a glare in Kaori's direction.  "Prisoners are caught to be interrogated in the most cruel of manners, not to have conversations with them over tea."  Kaori tried to listen to the rest of their exchange, but she found herself grossly distracted by the dark forked eyebrows of psycho number two.  Never did she think that Dorothy Catalonia was so…so…downright hideous.  

A sharp smack in the back of her head brought Kaori back to the present.  She took a moment to briefly send a glare in Daniel's direction before turning her attention back in front of her where the psycho bitch convention was taking place.  

_Pay attention!_ Little Quat screamed at her, afraid of Daniel repeating the blow to Kaori's head.  Next time, Daniel was not going to be so gentle.  

_Help me.  What did they say?_ Kaori asked him, hoping the Winner heir was more successful at getting past the horrid eyebrows so as to hear what psycho bitch number two had actually said.

_They're asking where Auntie Jin is_, Quatre explained.

"As if I know," Jin retorted, pretending the private conversation with Quatre Jr. had never taken place.  If their telepathic communication were known, these torturers would surely find a way to exploit them.  

"You don't know where your own mother is?" psycho bitch number two asked.  

"She's with my father."  At least that much was the truth, she hoped.

"Do you now where your father is?" 

"Do you know where yours is, bastard daughter of a whore?" Kaori said, not even considering her own welfare.  Not her best of decisions, but she did enjoy the redness in the woman's face and her inability to form words for a few moments.  Daniel's metal pipe crashing into her ribs made the joy short-lived, however.  

_What's a whore?_ Little Quat asked.  

_Not now,_ Kaori said, smiling a little at the boy's curiosity.  _And don't ask me what a bastard is either._

_Ok_, he said, settling back into quiet.  

"We plan to use your little friend here as bait, securing his father's fortune.  With that much money, our plot to regain control in the Executive Council and reinstate me as Queen of the World will be more than within our grasp.  And your entire family will be eliminated," psycho bitch number one told them.  

_Stupid girl_, Kaori thought.

_Why?_ Little Quat asked again.

_No one actually tells the enemy prisoner the details of their evil plots, it is just asking for us to escape and thwart their plans_, Kaori said with a chuckle in her mental voice. 

_Are you enjoying this?_ he asked, confused as to why she might be laughing in her head.  

_Not for long_, she told him, noticing the more irritated look on psycho bitch number two's face.  She was about to take action, Kaori could tell.

"Beat her!" Dorothy screamed.

"No!" Relena countered the order.  "The soldiers are under my rule.  You cannot instruct them to beat our prisoners without my permission.  I'm the one in charge here."

Without hesitation, psycho bitch number two pulled a pistol form behind her somewhere, leveled it to the Queen of the World's head, and squeezed the trigger.  Kaori felt Quatre flinch as psycho bitch number one's brains and blood splattered on the wall behind her.  

"I'm in charge now, Miss Relena," psycho bitch number two, who was becoming more and more of a psycho bitch as time progressed, cooed to the dead body of Relena Dorlian-Peacecraft on the floor.  "Soldiers, I gave you an order."

A small chorus of "Yes Mistress Catalonia," was heard before the only remaining psycho bitch left the interrogation room.  The soldiers left behind advanced on Kaori.

_Don't worry_, she sent to Little Quat.  He nodded in agreement.

Daniel led the barrage on Kaori's body.  Pipes, fists, random pieces of metal, heavily booted feet, and other such blunt objects were pounded against her ribs, arms, thighs, and back.  Blood seeped from cuts in her welted hide, making a spattering sound when she was hit in the same area again.  Her clothes became spotted with deep red, and her skin showed huge purple marks as her body created premature bruises.  A beating she could handle.  And she would gladly handle, for Quatre could not endure such brutality.  

And they left her there, smirking as they exited the room, leaving Kaori's beaten body hanging from the hook and Quatre shivering in a corner.  Kaori's heavy breathing sounded like sandpaper over wire mesh, making Little Quat shudder at each hoarse intake of air.  Do not cry, he told himself as he slowly uncurled from his ball to look at Kaori for the first time.  He immediately wished he hadn't.  Kaori's face had been spared from the brunt of the attack, partially due to the arms that protected her head on either side as she hung from the crude hook above her.  But she still looked horrible.  Do not cry.  Quatre wouldn't have believed she was alive if he couldn't have heard her raspy breathing.  Gathering all the courage he could muster, the Winner heir made his way across the cold concrete to Kaori's side.  Do not cry, he told himself again as he reached up to try to unhook her.  Do not cry.

His trembling hands brushed her skin, making her flinch and snap out of unconsciousness.  Her odd-colored eyes focused on the little blonde trying to help her, and she attempted a weak smile.

"Save your strength," Little Quat said, reaching up again to unhook her.  His attempts were more than futile, he knew, for the hook swung above them seven feet off the ground.  Unfortunately, he'd inherited his father's slight build rather than his mother's tall lanky one.  

"I got it," Kaori whispered.  He didn't know why she was whispering.  Perhaps because of the silence in the room.  Or perhaps because her blood was roaring in her ears as loud as his own was.  Kaori's whole body tensed, and Little Quat scurried a few feet away, afraid of what she might be doing.  Inching her fingers upward, Kaori was able to grab a hold of the hook.  She bent her legs as she struggled with the hook, pulling herself slowly up the stem.  Writhing like a worm, she contorted her body as she pulled, finally able to slip the chain of the handcuffs from off of the hook.  Kaori dropped hard to the ground, crumbling and making Quatre think she'd hurt herself or broken some more bones.

"Are you alright?" he asked, rushing to her side and rolling her on her back.  She winced at his gentle prodding hands and the shift of her own weight on the hard floor.  

"Better now.  Some ribs are broken."  She didn't want to lie to Little Quat and tell him that she was just fine and dandy.  "Things will worsen if we stay in this cell though."

"Will these help?" Little Quat asked, holding out a set of keys on a small ring.  

Kaori stared.  "Where'd you get those from?" 

"Oh, well, the guard who was guarding me did a poor job of guarding his own stuff," Little Quat said with a sheepish smile.  "I thought they'd come in handy to get your handcuffs off."  Kaori offered her hands, and he quickly rid her of her wrist binders.  "What now?"

"We leave."

"How?"

"Good question," Kaori conceded, walking to the door in order to inspect her escape options.  It was a blank door.  No window that she could crash through and no hinges that she could tear apart to knock down the door.  "Let's see those keys, Little Quat."

He handed her his stolen keys.  She examined the lock closely, and then she felt and examined each of the keys.  Smiling a little to herself, she picked a bright new silver key and fit it into the keyhole on their side of the doorhandle.  The soft click as a result of her turning the key to the left and around informed them both that they'd won their freedom from the cell.  All that remained was to win their freedom from the military compound, and find their fathers.

Holding onto Quatre's hand, Kaori peeked her head into the hallway, checking both ways with her eyes and ears before venturing out.  

_Shouldn't you be resting?_ Little Quat asked her as they began their creeping down the steel hall.  

_I'll rest when we get out of here.  I can make it until then_, Kaori assured him.  She hoped she was right.  Her ribs and torso ached uncontrollably with every step and every breath, making her fear she'd gasp and reveal their location.  That was, if her labored breathing itself didn't draw attention to the two sneaking forms that moved as silently as possible through the compound.

_Turn left at the next hall_, Quatre said, remembering his way from when he'd run after Kaori.  It seemed like days ago, but it was only this morning that he'd been playing soccer with his family and the cadets.  Only this morning had Daniel been a good guy, rather than the bastard son of a whore that he'd turned out to be.  Quatre didn't know what that particular phrase meant, but he was smart enough to gather that it was an insult and he liked the way it sounded when Kaori'd said it to Ms. Catalonia.  He'd have to use it more often.  

They were almost to the doors outside when they heard her.  The woman that Kaori insulted and called psycho bitch number two in her head.  Quatre didn't quite know what all that meant either, but he'd trust Kaori's judgment in the name-calling department.  Thankfully, the woman had not noticed them and was talking to one of her underlings in a side hall when they heard her voice.  Little Quat felt Kaori's hand twitch, saw her body stiffen, and felt her mind tense when that voice reached their ears.  She approached the side hall cautiously, peering around the corner with a quick bob of her head before deciding it was safe enough to gaze down the hall at the two talking.  

"…Kill the Winner child.  Relena's wish was to have Quatre and Heero suffer.  I care not for such personal vendettas.  I need money for our takeover and I need it now.  Quatre will not realize his son is dead until after he's given us the majority of his assets.  Now hurry and finish the job.  I do not want to risk their escape," Psycho bitch number two was ordering to Daniel.  

"But Mistress Catalonia, killing Winner Junior now might jeopardize the rest of our plans.  It might be wise to keep him alive a few moments longer.  And they are locked in the cell.  They cannot escape, Mistress," Daniel tried to convince her.

"You forget that Kaori is the daughter of two very special soldiers.  Heero Yuy has defied immeasurable odds on more than one occasion since I've known him, and her mother is no push over either.  She's already escaped from one of our most well planned assassination attempts.  Do not underestimate Kaori Yuy."  

"You already have," Kaori said from behind Daniel, swiping the gun from his holster more quickly than he thought to grab for it.  She leveled the handgun at his head, arms steady before her as she wielded the weapon left-handed.  "Goodbye Daniel," she said, hatred permeating her voice as she nearly snarled at him.  With a quick pull of the trigger, Daniel's body slumped to the ground at Kaori's feet, blood oozing from the hole that had pierced his heart.  He'd died immediately.  

"I see that I have underestimated you indeed, dear Kaori…" psycho bitch number two praised.  "You are more impressive than both your father and your mother.  A true and beautiful soldier.  I must ask, will you join my ranks?  Act as my second in command?"

"I've already seen what the second in command does to the one in charge when they don't agree," Kaori challenged.  "No need for the formalities, I'll get right to the point."  The gun trained on psycho bitch number two's head.  

"Many have heard the gunshot, Yuy.  Your little friend will be in trouble soon if you leave him alone much longer."  Number two was just trying to distract her enough to get her to mess up, Kaori thought, more than upset at the psycho bitch's attempt.

"I won't leave him alone much longer then," Kaori said with her father's cold monotone.  She pulled the trigger again, turning to walk away before Dorothy Catalonia's body even hit the floor. 

Stuffing the gun into the back of her pants, Kaori rummaged through Daniel's clothes, finding another gun, a pack of cigarettes, and a small bag of marbles.  With a snort of disgust, Kaori left the bodies behind and made her way to the hall where she'd left Little Quat.

_I got worried_, the boy said, holding on to Kaori's hand as soon as she limped close enough to him.  

_Sorry to worry you.  I just had to check Daniel before I left_, Kaori explained, resuming their trek through the sterile halls of the compound.  

_What did you find?_

She stopped and stared down at the blonde.  Getting on one knee, and wincing at the pain, she pulled the second and smaller gun from her belt and held it out to him.  Little Quat took it timidly and held it gingerly in the palm of his hand.  _This is the safety_, she told him, pointing to gun.  _Click it like this_…she illustrated…_and the safety's off.  Put it back on_, Kaori instructed.  Little Quat did as he was told, being a fast learner.  _Pull the trigger to fire a shot.  But Quatre, listen to me_…she paused to make sure she had his attention before she took the pistol from his hands and put it in the back of his belt, similar to the way she held her own gun.  _You may only use this gun if I am already dead, and no other time.  Understood?_

"Yes," he whispered.  

____

ok, so I know that Relena and Dorothy have kinda flipped in this story.  I don't really know why except, to quote an ancient proverb, hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.  There's no real big reason as to why they've gone crazy and want to take over the world, but you have to admit that Dorothy's a conniving bitch and she would use Relena's power to start a new war.  


	16. Horse Escape

Chapter Fifteen 

No one had noticed their escape so far, but Kaori knew their luck wouldn't hold out for too much longer.  In her haste, she'd neglected to hide the bodies of the two she'd just killed, and whenever someone stumbled across them, she knew that an alarm somewhere would be tripped.  Then their stealthy little escape from the compound would no longer be so unnoticed.  

They entered the hangar where the transport had first landed when they arrived.  The transport was gone now, and that was the first of their rotten luck.  Soon after, a shrill and ear-shuddering alarm ripped through the evening stillness.  The alarm was rotten luck number two.  Birds took to flight to get away from the intruding sound.  Kaori cursed under her breath.  Grabbing a firm hold of Little Quat's hand, she ran as fast as Quatre could keep up with her, making a straight line from the compound hangar to the field and open woods beyond.  Without more time to have picked out transportation, they'd have to depend on hiding rather than running.  Rotten luck evidence number three: shots were fired from the compound as soldiers gave chase.  Bullets hit the ground around her feet and off to her left.  Thankfully, neither her nor Quatre had been shot.

Little Quat stumbled once, pulling heavily on Kaori's left hand to keep from grinding his face into the gravel and dirt.  They wouldn't be able to keep this up long.  She let go of his hand long enough to catapult over a four-rail fence, turning to give him a helping hand.  With a pleased smile, she noticed he'd followed her acrobatic fly over the tall fence.  Knowing Uncle Trowa had its advantages.  

Two horses in the distance caught her attention.  Well, she'd make the most of this rotten luck.  Horseback through the woods was preferable to busting into the foliage on foot.  And they'd gain an advantage on agile horses.  The animals could disappear in narrow underbrush where no jeep or heavily armed soldier could follow.  The gunshots from behind had stopped, and Kaori needn't have turned around to see the compound bustling with activity as soldiers jumped in jeeps and bounced after them at full power.  Their lead would soon disappear.

Knowing better than to run up behind horses and risk spooking them to get a hoof in her mouth, Kaori slowed to a stop and whistled, clicking lightly with her tongue.  To her great relief, the dark chestnut turned its head and trotted in her direction.  This horse only had a lightweight bridle on its face.  For Quatre's sake, she was elated to see the lighter brown horse had a western-style saddle on and a full bridle.  

"Can you ride?" she asked Quatre as she pet the dark horse's face and took a hold of the reins that dragged on the ground beside it.  

"No."

"Now's a good time to learn, ne?" she said as she led her horse and Quatre to the lighter brown horse wearing tackle.  Walking to the left side of the bay horse, she indicated the stirrup.  "Put your left foot in there and swing your right leg over the back of the horse to sit in the saddle."  Little Quat did as she instructed and wiggled a little on the hard leather to get comfortable.  Immediately, his foot came from the stirrup.  Kaori frowned.  "You'll have to get by without using the stirrups," she said.  "I don't have time to adjust them to your shortness."

"Hey, I'm almost as tall as you!" Little Quat complained.

"I know, but I'm not exactly Mount Everest."  She reached up and set her hand on the horn.  "You're not really supposed to, but just hold onto this.  It may be a rough ride so keep your ass in the saddle and hold on for dear life if you have to.  Scream at me if you slip or start to fall."

Quatre nodded as he concentrated on staying on the horse.  It pranced a little as it got used to the weight on its back.  Why the horse had been left with a saddle on, Kaori didn't know.  But most likely these horses weren't treated the best by the soldiers, and they were probably more than a little skittish around people.  It couldn't be helped right now.

She held both her own reins and Quatre's reins in her left hand as she used that same hand to grab a tuft of mane at the base of the dark chestnut's neck.  Bouncing a little on the balls of her feet, Kaori hefted herself up and swung her right leg over the rump, settling down on the back of the horse.  It shimmied a little to the right and snorted in contempt, but didn't try to rear up and get her off.  Yet.  She patted the side of its neck to ease it a little.  

"You ready?" she asked Quat, getting nervous about the jeep that had just burst through the railed fence.  The jeep was making its way across the pasture and to where they sat on the horses near the opposite side of the field.  

Little Quat nodded fiercely and tightened his grip on the saddle horn.  Kaori used her teeth to rip off the tape holding the splint on her right hand.  She'd need both hands to pull this stunt off and making her knuckles bleed was a small price to pay to get out of here alive.  Taking a firm hold of her reins in her right hand, she ignored the splitting stitches as she dug her heals into the sides of the chestnut, leading Quatre's horse by the its reins in her left hand.  

Amazingly enough, neither of them fell due to Little Quat's inexperience and her lack of a saddle; their more than impressive steeds cleared the four rail fence and bolted off toward the woods beyond.  

_I think the horses are more eager to get away than we are_, she heard Little Quat tell her.  Kaori didn't respond but nodded as she concentrated on getting to the woods ahead.  The fence would slow the progress of their chasers, but a horse was no match when compared to a combustible engine.  She hoped they could make it to the forest and disappear before the jeeps ran them over.  

Turning sharply to the right to avoid a ditch, her left arm wrenched as Little Quat's horse struggled to follow.  Biting back her scream, Kaori felt more than over-exposed to pain for today.  For the week.  For her whole fucking life.  She clenched her teeth and spurred her horse onward, ignoring again the tug of her arm as she pulled Little Quat's horse along.  

_Duck!_ She yelled to him as they came upon the beginning trees of the forest.  A particularly low branch would have knocked them both off the backs of their horses if she hadn't seen it beforehand and warned Little Quat.  Bending down low over the neck of the chestnut, she risked a quick glance back to check on the blonde.  He was mimicking her every move, holding tight to the horn as he, too, leaned forward close to the pumping neck of his bay-colored horse.  

Weaving in and out of the trees and going deeper into the underbrush, Kaori could hear the curses of the soldiers who'd been cut off from their pursuit due to the impeding woods.  Smiling to herself, she urged her horse onward.  They'd rest later.  Right now they had to get as far from the compound as they could to conceal themselves in the vastness of nature.  

*   *   *   *   *   *   *  

Jin and Heero worked in perfect sync as they landed the shuttle in the wilderness of central Africa.  Without having to ask, they informed each other of barometric pressure, altitude, wind direction and strength, fuel status, and their undying love.  Trowa thought he'd gag when he first saw them locked at the mouth earlier on the Colony, but after remembering the troubles they'd had recently, he began to see their endearments as a blessing.  And they just happened to work so much smoother this way.  He and Wufei didn't complain at all as Jin called Heero a love muffin and told him to land this bucket of bolts already.  

Quatre's call had scared them all out of their wits.  And of course as with every other thing that ever went wrong, Jin had completely blamed herself for the whole mess.  It took Heero a long time to get her to realize she couldn't have magically saved the world and kept it all from happening.  And now they were here, landing at the front door of Relena's compound and watching as the soldiers scurried around like little ants outside.  

A loud click of metal from behind him caused Trowa to turn in the direction of the cargo hold.  Wufei had finished loading the large assault rifle with explosive-cased ammo that was illegal in all the Colonies and most of the countries on earth.  Trowa didn't ask where he'd gotten the hand-held artillery.  He only nodded his head in the direction of its pair.  Wufei tossed the weapon to him, and Trowa ran a loving hand over the cold metal before looking up at his Chinese counterpart with a carnal gleam in his green eyes.  Wufei returned the gesture with an evil grin.  They were going to tear Relena apart.  

With a soft jerk, the shuttle made contact with the hard-packed African soil.  Wufei and Trowa leapt from the transport and began firing.  Heero and Jin rushed from the cockpit and each grabbed their own illegal assault rifle on their way to join Wufei and Trowa.  Heero only paused long enough to sling a chain of extra ammo over his shoulder and across his chest.  

Alarms were already blaring loudly.  Some soldiers were retaliating against the intruding shuttle while others piled into jeeps and heading out of the compound in the opposite direction from the ex-pilots.  Why their attention seemed divided, Trowa didn't know.  Nor did he care.  Stalking steadily toward the compound building, he paved the way for his three comrades to follow.  

*   *   *   *   *   *   *

Wufei was almost disappointed that they hadn't met with more resistance as they burst through the door into the cold-lighted hallways.  Assuming the lead, he ran in the direction of the interrogation rooms.  All these old OZ buildings were all built alike, and he'd been in plenty of OZ bases to know exactly where he was going.  Shooting down the occasional soldier who happened to be so unlucky as to show a flash of green colored uniform, Wufei mercilessly tore through the halls, hoping their brash and daring rescue attempt didn't get the kids killed.

"Where are they?" Heero yelled from behind.  

"One of these rooms on the right," Wufei answered, his voice straining to be heard over the insanely annoying alarm buzz.  They searched each room, coming up empty.  Heero burst through the last door in the hall, and he came to a complete stop.  

Wufei came up behind him to peer over his shoulder.  Blood littered the concrete floor beneath a large meat hook that hung from the ceiling.  A pair of bloody handcuffs laid discarded in front of the door.  Whoever had been here had recently left, for the bright red blood was still sticky and wet-looking.  Putting a hand on Heero's shoulder, he tore the worried father from the sight of his child's bloody handcuffs.  

Almost too late, Wufei noticed the body of Relena Dorlian-Peacecraft.  She had fallen off of her chair, and her remains were in a heap between the steel chair and concrete wall of the interrogation room.  A telltale stain of blood and pink substance clung to the wall at about the precise height of a sitting person's head.  And the extreme disfigurement of Miss Relena's face and head more than confirmed to Wufei that the former Queen of the World had been shot.  Shot as she sat in this exact chair and watched them beat Kaori Yuy.  

Kaori had to have been beaten, or else blood would not stain the floor under the hook.  The red liquid on the handcuffs told him that she'd been hung from that hook by the chain of the cuffs.  Relena Dorlian-Peacecraft more than deserved her cruel fate for being behind this abduction and making the List.  She deserved her undignified and dishonorable death.  She was a dishonorable woman.

He turned from the gruesome sight of the dead and decaying body, noticing a small streak of red on the floor.  

"She left us a trail," Wufei said, trying not to wince at the morbidity of his statement, but ecstatic with the fact that they did indeed have a trail to follow.  Small drops and smears of blood streaked down the hallway and around a corner to the left.  Jin took off running along the blood trail before anyone could stop her.

They caught up with her again as she stood near a side hall, her mouth open in surprise.  Wufei put his hand on Heero's other half and moved her out of the way.  He was beginning to get tired of this pushing his friends out of the way and looking at dead bodies thing.  This time, Wufei could distinguish two bodies on the floor under the bright fluorescent lights.  Long blonde hair proved to be Dorothy Catalonia.  The other figure belonged to Daniel, the kid that his daughter had hung out with at the Academy.  Wufei felt his anger rising as he looked down on the blonde boy.  This kid had infiltrated the Preventor Academy and infiltrated their inner circle of friends.  His anger subsided momentarily as Trowa bent down near the boy.

"What is it?" he asked.

Trowa thought a while before answering.  "The gun from his holster is missing, as well as a smaller gun from this under-the-shoulder holster."

"Perhaps he didn't arm himself today," Wufei suggested.

"Perhaps Kaori took them," Trowa said, voicing the unsaid hope of all four adults.  

"The blood trail stopped a while ago," Jin spoke for the first time since the landing of the shuttle.  "We don't know where they could have gone."

"If Kaori was responsible for this," Wufei said, nodding down at the two dead bodies, "then she probably bolted for the hangar.  It's only a few yards from here."

"Let's go then."

Wufei didn't know who had spoken, either Trowa or Heero.  Or both.  It was hard to tell which of them was speaking when they both dropped back into soldier mode.  But it didn't matter who was agreeing with him and who wasn't.  He was going to check the hangar whether anyone else wanted to or not.  Bursting through the hangar door, Wufei saw…

Chaos.

And nothing promising.

No transport, no personnel, no jeeps, no officers, and no sign of Kaori or Little Winner.  All four of them stood dumfounded for a moment, looking wide-eyed at the disordered scene of soldiers yelling at one another and threatening to kill each other, and some running off in the direction opposite of their shuttle landing.  They could catch snips of conversation.

"…no leaders, so why bother…"

"Miss Dorothy shot her superior…"

"Those damned prisoners escaped and are making for…"

"…Dorlian-Peacecraft's body…"

"…killed each other, including Daniel and Miss Catalonia…"

"…why fight for their lost cause?"

 Wufei, Trowa, Heero, and Jin exchanged confused looks.  Did these soldiers just say what they thought they said?  Judging by the disorganized frenzy of officer-less soldiers, Wufei could confirm that the words concerning superiors killing each other were true.  Wufei was about to ask what the others thought about the situation when a part of the conversation called his attention.  One of the soldiers had mentioned escaped prisoners.  Did that mean that Yuy and Winner had gotten away?

It made sense now.  The jeeps they'd seen driving from the compound as they landed weren't reacting to their sudden arrival.  They had been chasing after the children. 


	17. Lost Not Found

Chapter Sixteen 

"Uncle Duo?"

"Yes?"

"When do you think Daddy will come back?"  Natalie looked up at him as he tucked her in goodnight.  She smiled as she put her hands up, stopping him from pulling her blankets up to her nose.  

"I don't know," Duo answered truthfully.

"Uncle Duo?"

"What is it?"

"Do you think Quatre is all right?"

Duo paused, forgetting his good-natured smile and adopting an air of seriousness.  "I don't know about that either," he admitted, smoothing out the blankets around Trowa's daughter.  "I hope he's all right."

"Me too," the little girl said, closing her eyes and rolling onto her side to get more comfortable.  She was almost asleep when she murmured, "Big Sister will take care of him until he gets to come back home."  

Duo patted her little head before the turned to leave her bedroom.  The kids were taking this amazingly well, considering the disturbing fact that Little Quat and Kaori had been taken during the attack on the Academy.  Luckily for him, they didn't press questions about the explosion, so he didn't have to feel worse and worse for lying to them.

"Big Sister?" Duo asked the blonde man leaning in the doorway, the blonde man who'd watched as he tucked in their good friend's little girl.  

"Nat's called Kaori that since she was a baby, when Trowa still lived here at the Academy," Quatre answered.  "I don't think she's called Kaori that in a long time."

"So what does it mean now?"

Quatre shrugged.  "Hopefully it means that she feels Quatre is safe with Kaori, safe like they used to be when they were little."

"Hopefully," Duo repeated, scowling.

"Are you mad at me about something?" Quatre asked, closing the door to Natalie's bedroom.  Duo shook his head no.  "Then what is bothering you?"

"I don't like having to lie to our own chil…"

"Dad?" Luke interrupted, showing himself from the darkness of the living room.  "Hade says there's a call for you in Colonel Yuy's, I mean Uncle Heero's apartment."  Luke moved aside as his father and Quatre brushed past him.  He quietly followed them next door, only stopping as Quatre checked on Catherine and Roddy who slept in the other bedroom of his father's apartment.  

"Move aside, Son," Duo said, pushing Hayden out of the chair in Heero's apartment and sitting in the vacated seat.  "Trowa?" he asked, looking at the monitor.

"Duo," a voice said.  

"What's going on?  Why are you calling Heero's apartment?  Have you found…?" Duo let his question hang, conscious of his two boys in the room and his promise to keep the real reason behind the explosion in the Academy a secret.  He was aware of Quatre coming behind him, placing a hand on his shoulder to await any news Trowa might tell them.

"The List has been cancelled," Trowa said, monotone as usual.

"And what about Kaori and…and Little Quat?" Duo asked, unable to ignore the fact that Trowa had only mentioned good news about the list, and left out details about the kidnapped children.

"We're working on it.  I'll keep you up to date."  

Duo barely had time to reach up and press the tracer button on Heero's communicator before Trowa closed the connection.  Within seconds, a stream of letters and numbers filed across the blank monitor screen that revealed the time and originating location of the most recent call.  Duo grabbed a napkin and scribbled down the geographic name and magnetic coordinates of Trowa's end of the call.  

"Well, he's one cryptic bastard, isn't he?" Duo said, tossing a smile behind him at Quatre.  "But not too cryptic to figure out."

"They don't know where Junior is," Quatre stated, obviously upset.  

"But they killed the List.  That's good news," Duo countered, trying to stay optimistic.  "And we know where they are now.  Perhaps we should go…"

"No, we aren't going.  Heero told us to stay here," Quatre countered.

"Go where?" Luke interrupted.

Duo swallowed hard and glanced aside at Quatre, who looked less than helpful.

"Hey," he said with a shrug.  "I wasn't the one who promised Heero not to tell _my_ kids.  Junior already knew.  You're the one who takes responsibility for this one."  The blonde left Heero's apartment, heading to where Catherine and Roddy were asleep.  

"Take responsibility for what, Dad?" Hade asked, a bit of doubt creeping into his voice.  "We know we've been left in the dark during all of this.  And we know that you're the ones who lied to us.  What's going on, Dad?"

*   *   *   *   *   *   *

The horses slowed their pace, twisting and turning in the dense undergrowth of the forest.  Loud rumbling sounds from the pursuing jeeps faded into the distance, and Quatre could hear the chirping of birds and rustling of small animals as they trekked through the woods.  He was starting to feel peaceful again.  His legs hurt from riding in a saddle, a feat he wasn't used to, but he was really feeling at home with his animal and the nature around him.

Until he saw Kaori slump over the neck of her horse, coming close to falling off completely.  

"Kaori!" he yelled out, hoping that she was just asleep.  "Kaori!"

She shook her head and looked back at him.  Her red-violet eyes were glazed over and hazy, and they didn't focus on him correctly.  That's when he noticed the blood on her horse.  The blood that ran down the sides of her horse, originating from the rider.  

"Kaori, you have to stop us!" he said, loudly and not caring if soldiers were close enough to hear.  She was bleeding too much, and being caught by the bad guys seemed like a good idea if they'd patch her up and stop the red liquid from running down the sides of the horse and staining the fallen leaves on the forest floor.  

Luckily, she had half a mind still working, and Kaori pulled gently on the reins of her dark chestnut horse and came to a stop.  She promptly fell off the horse and onto the ground.  Little Quat didn't know how to correctly dismount, so he flung himself off the high back of his horse, landing unceremoniously on the ground between the two large animals.  

He rushed to her side, putting his hands on either side of her face to get a feel for what she was thinking, what she was feeling and whether or not she was still alive.  A wave of pain hit him as Kaori came back to consciousness.  She blocked it almost immediately, and Little Quat was left breathless as he tried to recover from it.

"Do you hear it?" she whispered to him.  "Can you hear it?"

"Hear what?" he asked, completely confused.  

"The water.  There is a stream nearby."  Kaori drifted in and out of consciousness, opening and closing her eyes as she fought to stay awake.  It looked like she was just taking really long blinks.  Quatre was quiet and listened as hard as he could for any sound of running water.  He strained and strained.  He could hear the horse above him snort and stamp its foot, probably more than irritated at having to keep its saddle on when it didn't have a rider.  He could hear a nest of birds off to the right.  And he could hear the faint whisper of water over rocks.  A stream.  

"I hear it," he told her, trying to drag her to a sitting position.  But a small boy was no match for Kaori's muscular dead-weight.  "You have to wake up, I can't lift you."

"I can walk," she said, startling him with her voice.  He had expected her to be unconscious again.  "Help me to my feet and let me lean on the horse," she instructed, struggling to get her feet under her body.  

Finally Little Quat was able to get her to her feet and he draped one of her arms over the neck of the dark horse and the other arm over his own shoulders.  Together, they made their way through the trees to the stream.

The horses drank deeply from the cool, clear water.  Quatre, too, gave in to a moment's length of personal embellishment and stuck his whole head under the water to get a few gulps of fresh water.  He pulled off his t-shirt, dunking it in the water and ringing out the excess liquid.

"This is cold," he warned before he put the shirt on Kaori's bleeding right hand.  She'd torn the stitches and was exposing open bone.  Infection would be hard to fight off.  Quatre Junior's hopes faded as he tugged off Kaori's shirt, seeing the extent of the bruises and split skin.  No wonder she'd been bleeding so much, he thought as he stole a glance at the dark horse nearby.  Kaori's blood stained its sides and its neck, gleaming a bright red against its deep brown hide.  

Working as quickly as possible, Little Quatre sponged Kaori's aching and bleeding body with his t-shirt.  He didn't want her to be shirtless out here in the open for long.  Even a loose shirt would help prevent some infection or bothersome insects from attempting to embed in her flesh.  He shuddered.  He didn't want to think about that.  Throughout most of her washing, Kaori remained limp and accepting of Quatre's care.  One time she'd opened her eyes and told Hayden to stay away from her or else she'd hurt him, but other than that, no incidents occurred.  He laid her down on the soft mossy bank of the stream after giving her a handful of water to drink.  She went to sleep immediately.

Little Quatre wondered about his father as he pulled the chestnut colored horse closer to the water.  He splashed its sides and rinsed away as much blood as he could.  The stream diluted Kaori's blood into light pink and carried it down the rocks to some other place.  He wondered if his father was worried about him.  He wondered if they'd ever be found.

*   *   *   *   *   *   *  

"I wonder if we'll ever find them," Jin whispered into Heero's ear.  Trowa and Wufei were currently talking with the local law officials, getting their cooperation in the detainment and imprisonment of the captured soldiers.  Heero slipped a strong arm around her shoulders and pulled her close.

"Of course we'll find them," he assured her.  Wufei was getting testy, saying something about the dishonorable acts of the soldiers they'd captured and the need for these soldiers to be aptly punished.  If he mentioned justice, Heero would have to intervene.  

"Do you feel her?" Jin asked, her voice shaking.

"No."  Heero had been worried about that, too.  Normally, he had a sense of Kaori's being, a kind of connection with her that she allowed him to have.  Since the kidnapping, he'd been cut off from the sense of Kaori that normally occupied a small corner of his mind.  And no one could sever that connection but Kaori herself.  His daughter was out there, injured and taking care of Quatre's son, hunted by soldiers.  And now that night was coming on, she was soon to be hunted by more vicious predators than slipshot soldiers from Relena's military camp.  

"She's not contacting you?" Jin asked, repeating the question just to be sure.  

"No, she's not."  

"There's no way to know if she's alive or dead then," Jin said with finality.  Heero wrapped his arms tighter around his wife and held her so close that he could feel her heart beating against his chest.  

"She's alive." 

"…you mean, "No proof"?  I'm telling you that these men are responsible for an attempt to reinstate Relena Dorlian-Peacecraft as Queen of the World and destroy the current government.  Do you not trust a former Gundam Pilot?  What is this injustice!?"

"That's my cue," Heero said, hearing Wufei's argument with the local law enforcement.  "I need to settle him down."  Jin only nodded, but remained standing where she was as Heero made his way across the large entry room to where the commotion was collected.

"I'm sorry Mr. Chang, but we can't just take orders from you and…" the rookie deputy looked around at Trowa and Heero, "…your friends.  Even if you were a Gundam pilot…"

"Listen," Trowa said, breaking the argument with his soft and strong voice.  "We are in need of your assistance.  If you are not willing to grant us the use of your local jail cells, then we shall have to deal with the matter in our own way."

The young deputy looked up at Trowa, then at Wufei, then at Heero.  "Your own way?" he asked, shaking a little.  

"That's right," Heero said in his most threatening monotone, taking a small step forward to seem more menacing.  "I would hope you'd assist in our endeavor."

"All right then," the deputy said, stuttering.  "We'll take these…men off of your hands.  Is there anything else we can do for you?"

"Nothing else, thank you.  Why don't we go and process these misguided soldiers?" Trowa suggested, walking away with the deputy.  

Wufei spun and confronted Heero.  "You didn't have to babysit me like that," he hissed.  "I'm more than capable of handling myself in a tense situation."

"I know that," Heero said, not at all surprised by Wufei's accusations.  "I was just on hand in case you decided to make your point with a little more force.  Ouch."

Both Wufei and Jin snapped their heads up to look at Heero.

"What did you say "ouch" for?" Wufei asked warily.

Heero's brows knitted together as he thought.  "I feel pain," he said.  "But I'm not hurt, am I?"  Jin ran her hands skillfully and quickly down Heero's body, feeling for broken ribs or unnoticed bullet holes.  She shook her head no.  "But I feel hurt.  My hand hurts."  He looked down at his right hand, opening and closing his fist a few times, his joints moving stiffly.  "And my ribs hurt, like they're broken," he said between shallow breaths.  Deep breaths disturbed any injured ribs and made them hurt more.  

Suddenly, Heero doubled over, falling to the ground on his knees.  He rocked back and forth, nearly hitting his head on the metal floor as he writhed.  Jin was at his side immediately, holding him as best she could.

"What is wrong, Heero?" she asked over and over.  "What's wrong?"

Wufei helped hold Heero still, trying to get him to stop contorting long enough to answer the question.  He fought against them, telling them that his arms hurt, his ribs hurt, his legs hurt, and his back hurt.  When they touched him, it hurt him more.  

"Kaori hurts!" Heero screamed out.  "I can feel her.  She is in pain!"

As suddenly as the pain racked Heero's body, it left again.  He sprung up from his position on the floor and looked with teary eyes at his friend and his wife.  Kaori had contacted him, long enough to let him know that she was still alive somewhere and that they should keep looking for her.  But Kaori was in too much pain to form any kind of complete thought.  She was in so much pain.  


	18. The Ending

Chapter Seventeen

Little Quat snuggled closer to Kaori's body to escape the cold of night.  He knew he probably shouldn't, that it might hurt her injuries even more to have him against her sore side.  But the night was too dark this far out in the wilderness, and all sort of strange animal sounds could be heard.  He shivered from more than just cold.

The horses hadn't left them, surprisingly.  He'd managed to remove his bay-colored horse's saddle to make it more comfortable and rinsed the sweat stains from its back and sides.  He left the blanket on to help keep her warm.  And the horses seemed to be thanking him for his kind care by sticking around, even in this scary and dark forest with night creatures all around them.  

Kaori had been unconscious for a long time, since the sun had started to set hours ago.  Quatre began to doubt if she'd wake up at all.  But her steady breathing and warm body reassured him that she was alive.  As he had washed her wounds when they first arrived at the stream, he thought he felt a wave of her immense pain.  Little Quatre shuddered now, thinking about how it made him feel.  He was surprised that she could hold all that inside.  

He felt the presence of people close by.  Quatre tensed, fearing them to be the soldiers that were still looking for him and Kaori, even though it'd been hours since they escaped the base.  Clicking the safety off the gun that Kaori had given him, his shaking hands attempted to hold the gun steady and in the direction he sensed the presence of other people.

The horses began to shift, showing their discomfort.  Something was definitely sneaking up on them.  He remembered what Kaori had said, about not firing the gun.  Carefully, he clicked the safety back on.  A figure began to emerge from the foliage, trapping him between them and the wide stream behind him.  

"Hey kiddo," Uncle Trowa's soft voice said from the bush.  Little Quat squealed and ran toward the tall shadow of a man, throwing his arms around Uncle Trowa's neck and crying from relief.  

"Oh, Uncle Trowa, I was so scared," he managed to say between sobs and gasps for air.  

"From all the commotion over here, I take it you've found the kids?" Wufei spoke up, appearing from somewhere off to the right.  

"Uncle Wu!" Little Quat exclaimed, relinquishing his chokehold on Trowa and running to embrace his other uncle.  

Wufei cradled Quatre as best he could, patting the little blonde head and holding his trembling body close.  "How is she?" he asked, noticing Trowa bending over the still form of Kaori.

"Alive."

"She's hurt bad, Uncle Wu.  Daniel beat her…and…" Quatre tried to say before breaking down into another bout of sobs.  

"Don't worry about her," Wufei soothed.  "Kaori is stronger than she seems.  We'll take her home and she'll be just fine."  He wished he could believe his own words, but from what he could see in the dark, Kaori's life was dangerously close to extinguishing.  

Trowa shook his head slightly, muttering under his breath about the Yuy Death Wish.  He looked back up at Quatre Junior.  

"Are these your new friends?" he asked, nodding his head in the direction of the horses.  Quatre tore himself away from Wufei's shirt long enough to see what Trowa was talking about before agreeing with a nod of his head.  "Well, they'll come in handy for bringing Kaori back to the base…"

"The base!?" Little Quat squeaked, holding on tighter to Wufei.  "I don't want to go back to the base!"

"Don't worry, little one," Trowa soothed as he moved to pick up Kaori.  "We left the shuttle at the base, and no one there will hurt you anymore."  He gingerly leapt up on the tall bay colored horse and held Kaori close to his chest.  Wufei began to direct Quatre Junior to the smaller dark horse.

"You're on the wrong one, Uncle Trowa," Quatre said, allowing Wufei to help him up on the other horse.  "That one is mine.  Can we keep her?"

"You've already picked out a horse?  Won't your father just love that," Trowa mused, smiling.  He wasn't surprised at all to find out the miniature Quatre had made friends with the animals and wanted to take them home. 

Wufei settled himself behind Little Quat and began directing the horse towards the base.  Trowa's horse followed. 

"Her name is Sandy," Quatre said, feeling much better now that his uncles were here, the kidnapping and escape were over, and Kaori was going to be ok.  "I named her after Daddy's Sandrock, since she helped us escape danger just like Daddy's Gundam used to…"  The little Winner continued making conversation the entire way back to the base. 

*******

Duo fell of the couch with a thud.  He gathered himself and his gun before rushing to the communicator, barely making it there before Quatre who had rushed out of his bedroom the moment he'd heard the beeping.  

"Maxwell here," Duo spoke, his voice hardly working due to the early morning hour.  

"Yuy," Heero identified himself with a stern worried look on his face.  "We found the kids."

Quatre shoved Duo aside to talk to Heero.  "Is he there?  Is he safe?"

"He's fine.  A little shaken from the whole experience, but doing remarkably well."  Heero looked away from the vidcam for a moment and then set a bright blonde boy in his lap.

"Hi Daddy!" Quatre Junior beamed from the monitor.  "Guess what?  Uncle Trowa said I could keep her.  Isn't that great?"  

"Sure, son," Quatre said with a sigh of relief, no knowing exactly what he was agreeing to.  "I'm glad to see that you're alright."

"I'm fine, Daddy.  Don't worry about me.  Kaori…" 

"Why don't you help Uncle Trowa load Sandy on the shuttle?" Heero interrupted, setting Junior down off his lap.  Little Quat beamed a smile, nodded, and ran off somewhere off camera.  "We'll be back ASAP, Trowa and Wufei are warming up the shuttle now.  We'll depart in about five minutes."

"Heero," Duo said, concern lacing his voice as he again pushed Quatre away from the monitor.  "What happened to Kaori?"

"She's injured," Heero answered after a moment's hesitation.  "Tell Sally to be prepared."

"Prepared for what?" Duo pressed for more information.  

Heero thought a moment, his face again turning away from the vidcam as he looked at something offscreen.  It didn't take a genius to figure out he was looking at his daughter.  Duo didn't interrupt.  "Broken ribs, dislocated shoulder, lacerations, possibly a sprained or broken knee, and she tore the stitches out of her right hand."  

Duo and Quatre gasped at hearing Heero's list of her injuries.  "I'll tell her to be prepared for the worst," Duo offered.  

"She looks horrible," Heero admitted.  He glanced down, not making eye contact with Duo's face on the monitor.  "Don't let the kids see her."  Heero shut off the communication line before either Duo or Quatre could think to answer.

*******

Luke paced up and down the hallway outside of Sally's lab.  He may be a teenage boy and a heavy sleeper, but everyone heard the shuttle land at 05:16 that morning.  And it wasn't until he rushed into Natalie's temporary bedroom in his father's apartment that he realized all the adults had left to go who knows where.  But he knew now.  His father, Quatre, Quatre's wife Catherine, and Natalie's mother Roddy had all abandoned their sleeping children and gone to meet the shuttle that brought Kaori.  

And now every one of their parents were inside that lab, working as best they could to patch Kaori up and keep her alive.  Even Dean Noin had shown up and gone into the lab.  He was thankful that they'd not told him of Kaori's arrival.  By the way Cathy ran out of the operating room and held Little Quat close to her and cried, he could tell that Kaori's situation was not favorable.  

Hade was beside himself with worry, doing nothing but sitting outside the lab against the wall with his knees pulled up to his chest and his arms wrapped around them.  Mei had sat down beside him, hoping to offer a little bit of comfort just by being there.  Cathy was holding Little Quat in her lap just a few feet away, with Natalie holding tight to him as well.  

With a sigh of frustration, Luke turned back around and stalked the hall again, knowing he was making everyone more nervous with his pacing but unable to stop.  After three hours of waiting, he heard the door creak open.

He was in his father's face immediately, about to ask questions about Kaori's health and whether or not they could see her, but Duo's face and body language emanated extreme exhaustion.  Luke opted to hug his father instead.  The elder Maxwell sank into his son's embrace, seemingly unable to stand on his own two feet anymore.  

Quatre was the next to emerge.  His arms and hands had been washed clean of Kaori's blood, but his face and shirt were smeared with it.  He joined his family in a heap on the floor.  Natalie ran to her father and mother as soon as they entered the hall, and Trowa held her in his arms as they left the hall and headed toward the peace of an apartment downstairs.  Sally and Wufei came out, still wiping their hands of Kaori's blood.  Sally looked completely exhausted and leaned heavily against her mate as they made their way into the hall of soft crying and worrying.  

"She'll be alright," Sally gave her doctor's opinion, knowing that their children had been kept in the dark about the entire situation.  "Its going to take a few weeks for her to get back on her feet again, but Kaori will pull through this with a little time.  It'll be even longer before she's back at top form, of course, and I doubt if she'll be able to return to the Academy before the end of the year…" Sally's voice trailed off.  She knew, and so did everyone else, that Kaori would be crushed at not being able to return to "active duty."  

"Thank you Sally," Hayden said, getting up off the floor and hugging Mei's mother.  "Thank you all so much for helping her."

*******

Hayden breathed deeply as the wind ruffled his bangs and made his braid swish against his suit.  The sounds of Luke's sneezes made him smile, and he was eternally grateful that he didn't have allergies like his younger brother.  Earth spring was just too beautiful to stay inside, and poor Luke had the stuffy nose and sinus pressure to prove it.  He could hear Mei's light laughter as she handed Luke yet another tissue.  

The grounds of the Academy were alive with color.  Bushes and trees that were so drab during the winter months were blossoming in blues, pinks, yellows, and oranges.  The dainty pink petals of the cherry trees littered the ground like confetti, swirling in the wind as they drifted down from lofty branches.  

A sniff at his side warned him just moments before his gigantic brother's hand clapped down on his back.  "Well, Bro, looks like we're going to graduate after all.  Two years of training have been accomplished, and we'll be assigned to our stations on the Earth and in the Colonies by the end of the day.  How do you feel?" Luke joked.

"Like I want to hurry up and get on with the rest of my life, and I want to stay here at the Academy forever," Hayden replied, getting a little misty-eyed as he looked up at his brother.  

"Don't worry, Hade.  I'm sure Lady Une will assign us to the same station.  We do have connections you know," Luke said with another loud sniff.  "Our dads just happen to be Gundam Pilots."

"And when you get assigned," Mei said from where she stood beside Luke, "you'll get to see Kaori again.  I'm sure that Lady Une will at lease sign you two together."  She gave a big smile and hooked her arm around Luke's.  "Didn't she say she was going to try to make it here for graduation?"

"Yea, but she's awful busy on L1.  I'm not sure if they would give her time off for a vacation," Hayden confessed.  "I sure hope she can get away and come."

Little Quatre and Natalie were running in and out of the cadets, dressed in their nicest clothes and managing to run at full speed in them.  They laughed as they played, showing no evidence of the mishaps a year and a half ago.  He could hear the horses whinny from around the corner of the Academy.  Natalie and Quatre Junior ran to where Sandy and Chestnut waited in a nearby pasture with their new foal.

Hayden scanned the crowd of instructors for his father.  He saw him near the Bartons and Winners, chatting merrily with Jin and playing with his braid as Heero stood silently by.  The three of them had become fast friends again, all moving into the same apartment soon after Quatre and Trowa had left to take their families back to the Winner estate.  

Luke sneezed again.  "Never had damn trees like this on L2," he said, glaring at the cherry tree above him.  

"Do you think they sent her on a mission?" Hayden asked.

"I'm sure Kaori will be here.  I mean, the girl fully recovered from all that before anyone ever expected her to," Luke said with another sneeze.  "Noin graduated her as soon as Sally said it was ok for her to return to the Academy, and Une assigned her to L1 without a moment's hesitation.  If she can pull all that off, then she can show up to a measly little boyfriend's graduation."

"Thanks, idiot," Hayden said, dodging his brother's hand.  Before long, the Maxwell brothers were chasing each other through the crowds, wrinkling their formal dress uniform as they behaved like children.  

Hayden stopped immediately when he saw her, making Luke almost run into him and plow them both into the ground.  She smiled and rolled her eyes as the brothers tried to smooth out their uniforms and look presentable.  

"I'm on duty for eight months and this is what you turn into?" Kaori teased, shaking her head in mock frustration.  She couldn't keep the smile from her face.  

"We can't help it!" Luke insisted.  He sneezed again.  "Come on, we haven't graduated yet, Miss I'm-just-as-professional-as-my-father Yuy!"  Luke grabbed her into a fierce hug, and for once she didn't mind the wrinkling of her uniform.  

"That's Lieutenant Yuy to you, Cadet Maxwell," she corrected.

"Yea, yea, yea."  Luke moved out of the way for Mei to give her long-time friend a hug.  

"So I take it that everything is going alright?" Mei asked.

Kaori nodded, looking over to Hayden.  "There's a new cadet who's going to be assigned to my section," she said with a bright smile.  "And I can't wait for his arrival."


End file.
